Sit (?), v. t. 1. To
sit upon; to
keep one's seat upon; as,
he sits a horse well.
Hardly the muse can sit the headstrong horse.
Prior. 2. To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to; -- used
reflexively.
They sat them down to weep.
Milton.
Sit you down, father; rest you.
Shak. 3. To suit (well or
ill); to become. [Obs. or R.]
Sit , v. i. [imp.
Sat (?) (Sate (?),
archaic); p. p. Sat (Sitten (?), obs.); p.
pr. & vb. n. Sitting.]
[OE. sitten, AS. sittan; akin to OS.
sittian, OFries. sitta, D. zitten,
G. sitzen, OHG. sizzen, Icel.
sitja, SW. sitta, Dan. sidde, Goth. sitan, Russ.
sidiete, L. sedere, Gr. &?;&?;&?;, Skr.
sad. √154. Cf. Assess,Assize,
Cathedral, Chair, Dissident,
Excise, Insidious, Possess, Reside,
Sanhedrim, Seance, Seat,
n., Sedate, 4th Sell,
Siege, Session, Set,
v. t., Sizar, Size, Subsidy.] 1. To rest upon
the haunches, or the lower extremity of the trunk of
the body; -- said of human
beings, and sometimes of other animals; as, to sit
on a sofa, on a chair, or on the ground.
And he came and took the
book put of
the right hand of him that sate upon the seat.
Bible
(1551) (Rev. v. 7.) I pray you, jest, sir, as
you sit at dinner.
Shak. 2. To perch; to rest with the
feet drawn up, as birds do on a branch, pole, etc.
3. To remain in
a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
And Moses said to . . . the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
Num.
xxxii. 6. Like a demigod here sit I in the sky.
Shak. 4.
To lie, rest, or bear;
to press or
weigh; - - with on; as, a weight or burden sits lightly upon him.
The calamity
sits heavy on us.
Jer. Taylor.
5. To be
adjusted; to fit; as, a coat
sts well or ill.
This
new and gorgeous garment, majesty,
Sits not so easy on me as you think.
Shak.
6. To suit one well
or ill, as an act; to become; to befit; -- used impersonally. [Obs.] Chaucer.
7. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
As the partridge sitteth on
eggs, and hatcheth them not.
Jer. xvii. 11.
8. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold
a relative position; to have direction.
Like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits.
Selden. Sits the wind in that quarter?
Sir W. Scott.
9. To occupy a place or seat
as a member
of an official body; as, to sit
in Congress.
10. To hold a session; to be in session
for official business; -- said of legislative assemblies,
courts, etc.; as, the court sits in January; the aldermen sit to- night.
11. To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of one's self made, as a picture or a
bust; as, to
sit to a
painter.
To
sit at, to rest under; to be subject to. [Obs.] "A farmer can
not husband his ground so
well if he
sit at a
great rent". Bacon. -- To sit at meat
or at table, to be at table for eating. -- To sit down. (a) To place one's self on a chair or other seat; as, to
sit down when tired. (b) To begin a siege; as, the
enemy sat down before the town. (c) To settle; to fix a permanent abode.
Spenser. (d) To rest; to cease as satisfied. "Here we can not sit down, but still proceed in our search." Rogers. -- To
sit for a fellowship, to offer one's self for examination with a view to
obtaining a fellowship.
[Eng. Univ.] -- To sit out. (a) To be without
engagement or employment. [Obs.] Bp. Sanderson.
(b) To outstay. -- To sit under, to be under the instruction or ministrations of; as, to sit under a preacher; to sit under good preaching. -- To sit up,
to rise from, or refrain from, a recumbent posture or from sleep; to sit with the body upright; as, to sit up late at night; also, to watch; as,
to sit up with a sick person. "He that was dead sat up, and began to speak." Luke vii. 15.
Sit (?), obs. 3d pers. sing. pres. of Sit, for
sitteth.
Hear it pronounced