Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A child.
  • noun A saucy girl or young woman.
  • noun A statement of an amount owed for food and drink, especially one signed to indicate acceptance of the charge.
  • noun A short letter; a note.
  • noun A ticket or token, especially one redeemable for food or drink.
  • noun A Brownie point.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The germ or embryo of a seed. See cut under wheat.
  • noun A pimple; a wart.
  • noun 1. A young animal; a whelp.
  • noun Specifically— A young cat; a kitten.
  • noun A child or babe; a pert young person, especially a girl.
  • noun A kind of bird.
  • noun An instrument for cleaving laths.
  • A Middle English contraction of chideth Chaucer.
  • noun In the East Indies, China, Japan, etc., a note or letter; a short writing of any kind, as a letter of recommendation, a note of indebtedness, an order, a pass, etc. The form chitty is not in use in China and Japan.
  • noun plural Small rice.
  • noun Also used attributively. See chitty-faced.
  • To sprout; shoot, as a seed or plant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The embryo or the growing bud of a plant; a shoot; a sprout.
  • noun A child or babe; ; also, a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
  • noun obsolete An excrescence on the body, as a wart.
  • noun A small tool used in cleaving laths.
  • intransitive verb To shoot out; to sprout.
  • obsolete Chideth.
  • noun A short letter or note; a written message or memorandum; a certificate given to a servant; a pass, or the like.
  • noun India, China, etc. A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
  • noun A pert young woman.
  • noun A sassy (saucy) or forward young person.
  • noun The embryonic growing bud of a plant; a shoot; a sprout; a seedling.
  • noun obsolete An excrescence on the body, as a wart.
  • verb intransitive To sprout; to shoot, as a seed or plant.
  • verb transitive To damage the outer layers of a seed such as Lupinus or Sophora to assist germination.
  • verb transitive To initiate sprouting of tubers, such as potatoes, by placing them in special environment, before planting into the soil.
  • noun A small tool used in cleaving laths. Compare: froe.
  • noun A small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message.
  • noun pharmacology A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
  • noun India, China A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club.
  • noun US, slang A debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor.
  • noun US, slang, euphemistic Alternative to using the vulgarity, shit.
  • interjection US, slang, euphemistic Alternative to using the vulgarity, shit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a dismissive term for a girl who is immature or who lacks respect
  • noun the bill in a restaurant

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, young animal.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete chitty, from Hindi ciṭṭhī, note, letter, probably from Sanskrit *ciṣṭa-, message; akin to Avestan cīš-, to assign, refer.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from Middle English chitte 'kitten, cub'.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From chitty from Hindi chitthi "letter", "note" from Sanskrit; from Hindi 'chit' – a small piece of paper or a note.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Euphemistic variation of shit

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Examples

  • It would be nice if there was some way to get a "validation" or "partial validation" chit from a merchant if you spent money downtown.

    Sticker shock (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • "I'D like a room," I said, presenting my chit from the station manager.

    This Side of Ultima Thule 1997

  • A blood chit is a document often carried by aircrew members to aid in their escape or evasion if they crash behind enemy lines.

    Harris, Jeffrey L. 1990

  • But then, I can see very plainly that the little chit is in danger on all sides of becoming trivial and superficial, – of mistaking wit for wisdom, and thinking she has answered an argument when she has said a smart thing and raised a laugh.

    Oldtown Folks 1869

  • The DEmmies ain’t doin chit either …. they collectin side money goin thru the motions. .hopin … they get their chance at the lessons learned here ….

    Think Progress » Rumsfeld Promises To Defeat The Taliban After Claiming In 2002 It Was Defeated 2006

  • A chit is a small document or note; a bill, or any small slip of paper with writing on it, or the outer fringes of a piece of paper.

    Think Progress » Sherwood ‘Calling In Chits’ With Right-Wing Leaders 2006

  • A chit is a small document or note; a bill, or any small slip of paper with writing on it, or the outer fringes of a piece of paper

    Think Progress » Sherwood ‘Calling In Chits’ With Right-Wing Leaders 2006

  • I want some one who my mother will indignantly call a chit of a child "-- he gave rather a broken little laugh --" can't I hear her saying it!

    If Winter Comes 1925

  • The obnoxious papers were swept out of sight -- Miss Stuart made desperate efforts at ease of manner, and morning call chit-chat, but every effort fell flat.

    A Terrible Secret May Agnes Fleming 1860

  • A casual kind of chit-chat filled the first minutes of Kate Stewart s class at the University of Washington one evening last week....

    Flirting 101? seattlepi.com 2011

Comments

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  • A mere chit of a girl.

    December 24, 2008