Definition of "quit"

quit¹

/kwɪt/

adjective
not comparable
1. (usually followed by of) Released from obligation, penalty, etc; free, clear, or rid.
  Quotations
  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'.
  1990, Claude de Bèze, translated by E. W. Hutchinson, 1688 revolution in Siam: the memoir of Father de Bèze, s.j, University Press, page 153
verb
third-person singular simple present quits, present participle quitting, simple past and past participle quit or quitted
1. (transitive, archaic) To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
  Quotations
  Enkindle all the sparks of nature To quit this horrid act.
  1605, William Shakespeare, (Please provide the book title or journal name)
  that judge that quits each soul his hire
  1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes
2. (transitive, obsolete) To repay (someone) for (something).
  Quotations
  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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
  1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XIV, in Le Morte Darthur, book II
  But if that I knewe what his name hight,For clatering of me I would him ſone quight;For his falſe lying, of that I ſpake never,I could make him ſhortly repent him forever: […]
  c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
  Quotations
  Vnthankfull wretch (said he) is this the meed, With which her soueraigne mercy thou doest quight?
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
  Forgive me, Rogero: 'tis my fate To love thy friend and quit thy love with hate.
  1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2
4. (reflexive, archaic) To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).
  Quotations
  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.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1 Samuel 4:9
  Samſon hath quit himſelf Like Samſon,
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 98, lines 1710–1711
5. (transitive, archaic) To carry through; to go through to the end.
  Quotations
  Never worthy prince a day did quit With greater hazard and with more renown.
  1595-1609, Samuel Daniel, Civil Wars
6. (transitive) To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate.
  Quotations
  To quit you […] of this fear, […] you have already lookt Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it?
  1688, William Wake, Preparation for Death
7. (transitive) To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.; to absolve; to acquit.
  Quotations
  God will relent, and quit thee all his debt;
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 36, line 510
8. (transitive) To abandon, renounce (a thing).
9. (transitive) To leave (a place).
  Quotations
  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?”
  1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […]
  He quitted the lake on the 23rd of September, and on the 4th of October arrived at Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, having succeded in finding a transitable route.
  1865, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, page 33
  At Malta the chief engineer of the ship, who always had been a good friend of mine, urged me to quit the sea; "otherwise," he said, "if you stay too long, you may, like myself, be condemned to wander about the world all your life and see your home only occasionally."
  1943 January and February, Chas. S. Lake, “Some C.M.Es. I Have Known: IV—H. A. Ivatt”, in Railway Magazine, page 32
10. (transitive, intransitive) To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).
11. (transitive, intransitive) To stop, give up (an activity) (usually + gerund or verbal noun).
12. (transitive, computing) To close (an application).

quit²

/kwɪt/

noun
plural quits
1. Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.

Definition of "quit"

quit1

adjective

Quotations

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

quit2

noun

quit¹

quit²