English
quit
Pronunciation
  • enPR: kwĭt, IPA: /kwɪt/, [kʰw̥ɪt]
Verb

quit (quits, present participle quitting; past and past participle quit)

  1. (transitive, archaic) To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
    • 1605, William Shakespeare
      Enkindle all the sparks of nature / To quit this horrid act.
    • that judge that quits each soul his hire
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To repay (someone) for (something).
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:4.14?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter xiv], in Le Morte Darthur, book II:
      I was but late att a Iustynge / and there I Iusted with a knyghte that is broder vnto kynge Pellam / and twyes smote I hym doune / & thenne he promysed to quyte me on my best frynde / and so he wounded my sone that can not be hole tyll I haue of that knyghtes blood
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:
      Vnthankfull wretch (said he) is this the meed, / With which her soueraigne mercy thou doest quight?
    • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:
      Forgive me, Rogero: 'tis my fate / To love thy friend and quit thy love with hate.
  4. (reflexive, archaic) To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 1 Samuel 4:9 ↗:
      Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
    • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗, lines 1710–1711, [https://archive.org/stream/paradiseregaindp00milt_0#page/{}/mode/1up page 98]:
      Samſon hath quit himſelf / Like Samſon,
  5. (transitive, archaic) To carry through; to go through to the end.
    • Never worthy prince a day did quit / With greater hazard and with more renown.
  6. (transitive) To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate.
    • To quit you of this fear, you have already looked Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it?
  7. (transitive) To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.; to absolve; to acquit.
    • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗, line 510, [https://archive.org/stream/paradiseregaindp00milt_0#page/{}/mode/1up page 36]:
      God will relent, and quit thee all his debt;
  8. (transitive) To abandon, renounce (a thing).
  9. (transitive) To leave (a place).
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. In Six Volumes, volume (please specify ), London: Printed by A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292 ↗:
      |||tr=|brackets=|subst=|lit=|nocat=1|footer=}}|}}
      Jones had no sooner quitted the room, than the petty-fogger, in a whispering tone, asked Mrs Whitefield, “If she knew who that fine spark was?”
  10. (transitive, intransitive) To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).
    After having to work overtime without being paid, I quit my job.
  11. (transitive, intransitive) To stop, give up (an activity) (usually + gerund or verbal noun).
    John is planning to quit smoking.
  12. (transitive, computing) To close (an application).
Adjective

quit (not comparable)

  1. (usually followed by of) Released from obligation, penalty, etc; free, clear, or rid.
    • 1990, Claude de Bèze, 1688 revolution in Siam: the memoir of Father de Bèze, s.j ↗, translated by E. W. Hutchinson, University Press, page 153:
      With mounting anger the King denounced the pair, both father and son, and was about to condemn them to death when his strength gave out. Faint and trembling he was unable to walk and the sword fell from his hands as he murmured: 'May the Protector of the Buddhist Faith grant me but seven more days grace of life to be quit of this disloyal couple, father and son'.
Conjugation


conjugation of quit

infinitive quit
present participle quitting
past participle quitted
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I quit we quit I am quitting we are quitting I have quitted we have quitted I have been quitting we have been quitting
you quit you quit you are quitting you are quitting you have quitted you have quitted you have been quitting you have been quitting
he quits they quit he is quitting they are quitting he has quitted they have quitted he has been quitting they have been quitting
past I quitted we quitted I was quitting we were quitting I had quitted we had quitted I had been quitting we had been quitting
you quitted you quitted you were quitting you were quitting you had quitted you had quitted you had been quitting you had been quitting
he quitted they quitted he was quitting they were quitting he had quitted they had quitted he had been quitting they had been quitting
future I will quit we will quit I will be quitting we will be quitting I will have quitted we will have quitted I will have been quitting we will have been quitting
you will quit you will quit you will be quitting you will be quitting you will have quitted you will have quitted you will have been quitting you will have been quitting
he will quit they will quit he will be quitting they will be quitting he will have quitted they will have quitted he will have been quitting they will have been quitting
conditional I would quit we would quit I would be quitting we would be quitting I would have quitted we would have quitted I would have been quitting we would have been quitting
you would quit you would quit you would be quitting you would be quitting you would have quitted you would have quitted you would have been quitting you would have been quitting
he would quit they would quit he would be quitting they would be quitting he would have quitted they would have quitted he would have been quitting they would have been quitting
imperative quit

Translations Translations Translations
  • German: kündigen
  • Russian: увольня́ться
Noun

quit (plural quits)

  1. Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America. [from 19th c.]
Related terms

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