n. 25B6; verb
she hit her child : STRIKE, slap, smack, cuff, punch, thump, swat; beat, thrash, batter, belabour, pound, welt, pummel, box someone's ears; whip, flog, cane; informal whack, wallop, bash, biff, bop, lam, clout, clip, clobber, sock, swipe, crown, beat the living daylights out of, give someone a (good) hiding, belt, tan, lay into, let someone have it, deck; Brit. informal stick one on, dot, slosh; N. Amer. informal slug, boff; Austral./NZ informal dong; poetic/literary smite.
a car hit the barrier : CRASH INTO, run into, smash into, smack into, knock into, bump into, cannon into, plough into, collide with, meet head-on; N. Amer. impact.
the tragedy hit her hard : DEVASTATE, affect badly, hurt, harm, leave a mark on; upset, shatter, crush, shock, overwhelm, traumatize; informal knock sideways, knock the stuffing out of; Brit. informal knock for six.
(informal) spending will hit £1,800 million : REACH, touch, arrive at, rise to, climb to.
it hit me that I had forgotten : OCCUR TO, strike, dawn on, come to; enter one's head, cross one's mind, come to mind, spring to mind.
25B6; noun
he received a hit from behind : BLOW, thump, punch, knock, bang, box, cuff, slap, smack, tap, crack, stroke, welt; impact, collision, bump, crash; informal whack, thwack, wallop, bash, belt, biff, clout, sock, swipe, clip; Brit. informal slosh; N. Amer. informal boff, slug; Austral./NZ dong.
a hit at his friend's religion : JIBE, taunt, jeer, sneer, barb; informal dig, crack, wisecrack, put-down.
he directed many big hits : SUCCESS, box-office success, sell-out, winner, triumph, sensation; best-seller; informal smash (hit), knockout, crowd-puller, wow, biggie; Brit. informal smasher.
compliment, failure.
25A0; hit back RETALIATE, respond, reply, react, counter, defend oneself.
25A0; hit home HAVE THE INTENDED EFFECT, strike home, hit the mark, register, be understood, get through, sink in.
25A0; hit it off (informal) GET ON (WELL), get along, be friends, be friendly, be compatible, feel a rapport, see eye to eye, be on the same wavelength, take to each other, warm to each other; informal click, get on like a house on fire.
25A0; hit on/upon DISCOVER, come up with, think of, conceive of, dream up, work out, invent, create, devise, design, pioneer; uncover, stumble on, chance on, light on, come upon.
25A0; hit out at CRITICIZE, attack, censure, denounce, condemn, lambaste, pillory, rail against, inveigh against, arraign, cast aspersions on, pour scorn on, disparage, denigrate, give a bad press to, run down; informal knock, pan, slam, hammer, lay into, pull to pieces, pick holes in; Brit. informal slag off, slate, rubbish; N. Amer. informal pummel, trash; formal excoriate.