BIT


Meaning of BIT in English

/ bɪt; NAmE / noun

SMALL AMOUNT

1.

a bit [ sing. ] (used as an adverb) ( especially BrE ) rather

SYN a little :

These trousers are a bit tight.

'Are you tired?' 'Yes, I am a bit.'

It costs a bit more than I wanted to spend.

I can lend you fifty pounds, if you want. That should help a bit.

2.

a bit [ sing. ] ( especially BrE ) a short time or distance :

Wait a bit!

Can you move up a bit?

Greg thought for a bit before answering.

3.

[ C ] bit of sth ( especially BrE ) a small amount or piece of sth :

some useful bits of information

With a bit of luck , we'll be there by 12.

I've got a bit of shopping to do.

a bit of cake

bits of grass / paper

PART OF STH

4.

[ C ] ( especially BrE ) a part of sth larger :

The best bit of the holiday was seeing the Grand Canyon.

The school play was a huge success—the audience roared with laughter at all the funny bits.

LARGE AMOUNT

5.

[ sing. ] a ~ (of sth) ( informal , especially BrE ) a large amount :

'How much does he earn?' 'Quite a bit!'

The new system will take a bit of getting used to (= it will take a long time to get used to) .

COMPUTING

6.

[ C ] the smallest unit of information used by a computer

FOR HORSE

7.

[ C ] a metal bar that is put in a horse's mouth so that the rider can control it

TOOL

8.

[ C ] a tool or part of a tool for drilling (= making) holes

—picture at drill

—see also drill

MONEY

9.

( NAmE , informal ) an amount of money equal to 12½ cents

SEXUAL ORGANS

10.

bits [ pl. ] ( BrE , informal ) a person's sexual organs

—see also bite , bit , bitten verb

IDIOMS

- the (whole) ... bit

- bit by bit

- a bit much

- a bit of a ...

- a bit of all right

- a bit of rough

- a bit on the side

- bits and pieces / bobs

- do your bit

- every bit as good, bad, etc. (as sb/sth)

- get the bit between your teeth

- not a bit | not one (little) bit

- not a bit of it!

- to bits

—more at blind adjective , champ verb

••

BRITISH / AMERICAN

a bit / a little

In BrE it is common to use a bit to mean 'slightly' or 'to a small extent':

These shoes are a bit tight.

I'll be a bit later home tomorrow.

Can you turn the volume up a bit?

It is more common in NAmE to say a little , or ( informal ) a little bit . You can also use these phrases in BrE :

These shoes are a little bit too tight.

I'll be a little later home tomorrow.

Can you turn the volume up a little bit?

••

WORD ORIGIN

senses 1 to 5 and senses 9 to 10 Old English bita bite, mouthful , of Germanic origin; related to German Bissen , also to bite .

senses 7 to 8 Old English bite biting, a bite , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch beet and German Biss , also to bite .

sense 6 1940s: blend of binary and digit .

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.