/ wɪt; NAmE / noun
1.
[ U , sing. ] the ability to say or write things that are both clever and amusing :
to have a quick / sharp / dry / ready wit
a woman of wit and intelligence
a book full of the wit and wisdom of his 30 years in politics
2.
[ C ] a person who has the ability to say or write things that are both clever and amusing :
a well-known wit and raconteur
3.
wits [ pl. ] your ability to think quickly and clearly and to make good decisions :
He needed all his wits to find his way out.
The game was a long battle of wits .
Kate paused and gathered her wits .
a chance to pit your wits against (= compete with, using your intelligence) our quiz champion
4.
-witted (in adjectives) having the type of intelligence mentioned :
a quick-witted group of students
5.
[ U ] wit to do sth the intelligence or good sense to know what is the right thing to do :
At least you had the wit to ask for help.
It should not be beyond the wit of man to resolve this dispute.
—see also witless
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IDIOMS
- be at your wits' end
- be frightened / scared / terrified out of your wits
- have / keep your wits about you
- to wit
—more at live (I)
••
WORD FAMILY
wit noun
witty adjective
witticism noun
outwit verb
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WORD ORIGIN
II . Old English witan , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch weten and German wissen , from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit veda knowledge and Latin videre see.