sit

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To rest with the torso vertical and the body supported on the buttocks.
2. v. To rest with the hindquarters lowered onto a supporting surface. Used of animals.
3. v. To perch. Used of birds.
4. v. To cover eggs for hatching; brood.
5. v. To be situated or located: a house that sits on a hill.
6. v. To lie or rest: Dishes were sitting on a shelf. See Usage Note at set¹.
7. v. To pose for an artist or photographer.
8. v. To occupy a seat as a member of a body of officials: sit in Congress.
9. v. To be in session.
10. v. To remain inactive or unused: Her expensive skis sat gathering dust.
11. v. To affect one with or as if with a burden; weigh: Official duties sat heavily upon the governor.
12. v. To fit, fall, or drape in a specified manner: The jacket sits perfectly on you.
13. v. To be agreeable to one; please: The idea didn't sit well with any of us.
14. v. Chiefly British To take an examination, as for a degree.
15. v. To blow from a particular direction. Used of the wind.
16. v. To keep watch or take care of a child.
17. v. To cause to sit; seat: Sit yourself over there.
18. v. To keep one's seat on (an animal): She sits her horse well.
19. v. To sit on (eggs) for the purpose of hatching.
20. v. To provide seating accommodation for: a theater that sits 1,000 people.
21. n. The act of sitting.
22. n. A period of time spent sitting.
23. n. The way in which an article of clothing, such as a dress or jacket, fits.
24. sit down To take a seat.
25. sit in To be present or participate as a visitor at a discussion or music session.
26. sit in To act as a substitute: She sat in for the vacationing news anchor.
27. sit in To take part in a sit-in.
28. on Informal To confer about.
29. on Informal To suppress or repress: sat on the evidence.
30. on Informal To postpone action or resolution regarding.
31. on Slang Informal To rebuke sharply; reprimand.
32. sit out To stay until the end of.
33. sit out To refrain from taking part in: sit out a dance.
34. sit up To rise from lying down to a sitting position.
35. sit up To sit with the spine erect.
36. sit up To stay up later than the customary bedtime.
37. sit up To become suddenly alert: The students sat up when he mentioned the test.
38. idiom. sit on (one's) hands To fail to act.
39. idiom. sit pretty Informal To be in a very favorable position.
40. idiom. sit tight Informal To be patient and await the next move.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. 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.
2. To crouch, as a bird on a nest; hence, to brood; incubate.
3. To perch in a crouching posture; roost: said of birds.
4. To be or continue in a state of rest; remain passive or inactive; repose.
5. To continue in a position or place; remain; stay; pass the time.
6. To be located; have a seat or site; be placed; dwell; abide.
7. To have a certain position or direction; be disposed in a particular way.
8. To rest, lie, or bear (on); weigh; be carried or endured.
9. To be worn or adjusted; fit, as a garment; hence used figuratively of anything assumed, as an air, appearance, opinion, or habit.
10. To be incumbent; lie or rest, as an obligation; be proper or seemly; suit; comport.
11. To abide; be confirmed; prosper.
12. To place one's self in position or in readiness for a certain end: as, to sit for one's portrait; to sit for an examination, or for a fellowship in a university.
13. To be convened, as an assembly; hold a session; be officially engaged in deliberative or judicial business.
14. To occupy a seat in an official capacity; be in any assembly as a member; have a seat, as in Parliament; occupy a see (as bishop).
15. To crack off and subside without breaking, as a mass of coal after holing and removal of the sprags.
16. To establish one's self; settle.
17. Milit., to encamp, especially for the purpose of besieging; begin a siege.
18. To cease from action; pause; rest.
19. To yield passively; submit as if satisfied; content one's self.
20. To adhere firmly to anything.
21. To quash; check; repress, especially by a snub.
22. To maintain a sitting posture; sit with the back comparatively erect; not to be bedridden.
23. To refrain from or defer going to bed or to sleep.
24. Hence— To keep watch during the night or the usual time for sleeping: generally followed by with.
25. To have or keep a seat upon.
26. To seat: chiefly in reflexive use.
27. To rest or weigh on; concern; interest; affect; stand (in expense); cost.
28. To be incumbent upon; lie or rest upon; be proper for; suit; become; befit.
29. To fit, as a garment.
30. n. A subsidence or fall of the roof of a coal-mine.

Wiktionary

1. v. intransitive, of a person To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs (especially the upper legs) are supported by some object.
2. v. intransitive, of a person To move oneself into such a position.
3. v. intransitive, of an object To occupy a given position permanently.
4. v. government To be a member of a deliberative body.
5. v. law, government Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session.
6. v. intransitive, of an agreement or arrangement To be accepted or acceptable; to work.
7. v. transitive To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to.
8. v. transitive To accommodate in seats; to seat.
9. v. intransitive shortened form of babysit.
10. v. transitive, US To babysit
11. v. transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK (Of an examination or test) To take.
12. n. rare, Buddhism an event (usually one full day or more) where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. obs. 3d pers. sing. pres. of sit, for sitteth.
2. v. To rest upon the haunches, or the lower extremity of the trunk of the body; -- said of human beings, and sometimes of other animals.
3. v. To perch; to rest with the feet drawn up, as birds do on a branch, pole, etc.
4. v. To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
5. v. To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh; -- with on.
6. v. To be adjusted; to fit.
7. v. obsolete To suit one well or ill, as an act; to become; to befit; -- used impersonally.
8. v. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
9. v. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
10. v. To occupy a place or seat as a member of an official body.
11. v. To hold a session; to be in session for official business; -- said of legislative assemblies, courts, etc..
12. v. To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of one's self made, as a picture or a bust.
13. v. To sit upon; to keep one's seat upon.
14. v. To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to; -- used reflexively.
15. v. Obs. or R. To suit (well or ill); to become.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. be located or situated somewhere
2. v. sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
3. v. work or act as a baby-sitter
4. v. assume a posture as for artistic purposes
5. v. show to a seat; assign a seat for
6. v. take a seat
7. v. be seated
8. v. be around, often idly or without specific purpose
9. v. be in session
10. v. serve in a specific professional capacity