hit

Adjective

1. Very successful.
   • The band played their hit song to the delight of the fans.

Noun

1. A blow; a punch; a striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke that touches anything.
   • So he the fam'd Cilician fencer prais'd, / And, at each hit, with wonder seem'd amaz'd. - 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fourth Satyr”, in The...
   • The hit was very slight.
2. Something very successful, such as a song, film, or video game, that receives widespread recognition and acclaim.
   • Marie Taglioni was another hit for Her Majesty's Theatre last season, and will be a hit again this season[…] - 1848, “Her Majesty's Theatre”, in The Musical World, volume 23:
   • Chico & Rita opens in the modern era, as an aged, weary Chico shines shoes in his native Cuba. Then a song heard on the radio—a hit he wrote and recorded with Rita in their youth—carries him back to 1948 Havana, where...
3. A blow; a calamitous or damaging occurrence.
   • His reputation took a hit when the new information came to light.
4. An attack on a location, person or people.
5. A collision of a projectile with the target.
   • But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they...

   1. In the game of Battleship, a correct guess at where one's opponent ship is.

6. A match found by searching a computer system or search engine
7. A measured visit to a web site, a request for a single file from a web server.
   • My site received twice as many hits after being listed in a search engine.
8. An approximately correct answer in a test set.
9. The complete play, when the batter reaches base without the benefit of a walk, error, or fielder’s choice.
   • The catcher got a hit to lead off the fifth.
10. A dose of an illegal or addictive drug.
    • Where am I going to get my next hit?
11. A premeditated murder done for criminal or political purposes.
    • The questions that have always haunted the family — who ordered the hit, and why, and who in London might have known — remain unanswered. - 2023 August 30, Megan K. Stack, Rob Stothard, “He Was Shot 14 Times at the...
12. A peculiarly apt expression or turn of thought; a phrase which hits the mark.
    • a happy hit
    • What late he called a blessing, now was wit, / And God's good providence, a lucky hit. - 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:

Pronoun

1. It.
   • But how hit was to come about didn't appear. - 1922, Philip Gengembre Hubert, The Atlantic monthly, volume 130:
   • Now, George, grease it good, an' let hit slide down the hill hits own way. - 1998, Nancy A. Walker, What's so funny?: humor in American culture:

Verb

1. To strike.
   • One boy hit the other.
   • Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must...
   • He tried to hit me but I dodged the blow and went out to plot revenge. - 1922-1927, Frank Harris, My Life and Loves:

   1. (transitive) To administer a blow to, directly or with a weapon or missile.

   2. (transitive) To come into contact with forcefully and suddenly.

      • The ball hit the fence.
      • a dozen apples, each of them near as large as a Bristol barrel, came tumbling about my ears; one of them hit me on the back as I chanced to stoop, and knocked me down flat on my face. - 1726 October 28, [Jonathan...
      • Meanwhile the street boys kept up a shower of mud balls, many of which hit the Doctor, while the rest were distributed upon his assailants. - 1882, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Doctor Grimshawe's Secret: A romance:

   3. (intransitive) To strike against something.

   4. (transitive) To activate a button or key by pressing and releasing it.

      • Hit the Enter key to continue.

   5. (transitive, slang) To kill a person, usually on the instructions of a third party.

      • Hit him tonight and throw the body in the river.
      • FREDO: Mikey, why would they ever hit poor old Frankie Five-Angels? I loved that ole sonuvabitch. - 1973, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II (screenplay, second draft)

   6. (transitive, military) To attack, especially amphibiously.

      • If intelligence had been what it should have been, I don't think we'd ever have hit that island.

   7. (figurative, ambitransitive) To affect someone, as if dealing a blow to that person.

      • Their coffee really hits the spot.
      • I used to listen to that song all the time, but it hits different(ly) now.
2. To manage to touch (a target) in the right place.
   • I hit the jackpot.

   Antonyms: miss

3. To switch on or switch off (lights).
   • Somebody's been here! Hit the lights!
4. To commence playing.
   • - I'd love to hear your band play. - Hit it, boys!
5. To briefly visit.
   • We hit the grocery store on the way to the park.
6. To encounter an obstacle or other difficulty.
   • You'll hit some nasty thunderstorms if you descend too late.
   • We hit a lot of traffic coming back from the movies.
7. To attain, to achieve.
   • The movie hits theaters in December.
   • The temperature could hit 110°F tomorrow.
   • We hit Detroit at one in the morning but kept driving through the night.

   1. (transitive, informal) To reach or achieve.

   2. (intransitive) To meet or reach what was aimed at or desired; to succeed, often by luck.

      • And oft it hits / Where hope is coldest and despair most fits. - c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...
      • All Human Race wou’d fain be Wits, / And Millions miſs, for one that hits. - 1733, [Jonathan Swift], On Poetry: A Rapsody, Dublin; London: […] [R. Fleming] [a]nd sold by J. Huggonson, […], →OCLC, page 3, lines 1–2:

   3. To guess; to light upon or discover.

      • Thou hast hit it. - c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
      • And we shall sit at endless feast, ⁠Enjoying each the other’s good; ⁠What vaster dream can hit the mood Of Love on earth? - 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLVI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC,...
8. To affect negatively.
   • The economy was hit by a recession. The hurricane hit his fishing business hard.
9. To attack.
   • I have to say this, he hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I’ve never heard of this one. Look at those hands. Are they small hands? - 2016 March 3, Nick Gass, quoting Donald Trump, “Trump on small hands: 'I...
10. To make a play.
    • Hit me.

    1. (transitive, card games) In blackjack, to deal a card to.

    2. (intransitive, baseball) To come up to bat.

       • Jones hit for the pitcher.

    3. (backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; said of a single unprotected piece on a point.

11. To use; to connect to.
    • The external web servers hit DBSRV7, but the internal web server hits DBSRV3.
12. To have sex with.
    • I'd hit that!

Wikipedia

hit