Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To rest with the torso vertical and the body supported on the buttocks.
  • intransitive verb To rest with the hindquarters lowered onto a supporting surface. Used of animals.
  • intransitive verb To perch. Used of birds.
  • intransitive verb To cover eggs for hatching; brood.
  • intransitive verb To be situated or located.
  • intransitive verb To lie or rest.
  • intransitive verb To pose for an artist or photographer.
  • intransitive verb To occupy a seat as a member of a body of officials.
  • intransitive verb To be in session.
  • intransitive verb To remain inactive or unused.
  • intransitive verb To affect one with or as if with a burden; weigh.
  • intransitive verb To fit, fall, or drape in a specified manner.
  • intransitive verb To be agreeable to one; please.
  • intransitive verb Chiefly British To take an examination, as for a degree.
  • intransitive verb To blow from a particular direction. Used of the wind.
  • intransitive verb To keep watch or take care of a child.
  • intransitive verb To cause to sit; seat.
  • intransitive verb To keep one's seat on (an animal).
  • intransitive verb To sit on (eggs) for the purpose of hatching.
  • intransitive verb To provide seating accommodation for.
  • noun The act of sitting.
  • noun A period of time spent sitting.
  • noun The way in which an article of clothing, such as a dress or jacket, fits.
  • idiom (sit on (one's) hands) To fail to act.
  • idiom (sit pretty) To be in a very favorable position.
  • idiom (sit tight) To be patient and await the next move.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To take or have such a posture that the back is comparatively erect, while the rest of the body bends at the hips and generally at the knees, to conform to a support beneath; rest in such a posture; occupy a seat: said of persons, and also of some animals, as dogs and cats.
  • To crouch, as a bird on a nest; hence, to brood; incubate.
  • To perch in a crouching posture; roost: said of birds.
  • To be or continue in a state of rest; remain passive or inactive; repose.
  • To continue in a position or place; remain; stay; pass the time.
  • To be located; have a seat or site; be placed; dwell; abide.
  • To have a certain position or direction; be disposed in a particular way.

Etymologies

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

[Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjanan, from *set-, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”). Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сидеть.

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Examples

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  • 'Tis in a DeSoto sedan I sit.

    October 18, 2008