bit2 (bit)

[ Follow your function, go! and batten on cold bits . Shak ., Cor., iv. 5. Dainty bits Make rich the ribs, but banker out the wits. Shak ., L. L. L., 1. 1. Hence-3. A small quantity of food; a modicum or moderate supply of provisions: as, to take a bit and a sup. [Dialectal.] He desires no more in this world but a bit and a brat; that is, only as much food and raiment as nature craves. Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence , p. 36. 4. A small piece or fragment of anything; a small portion or quantity; a little: as, a bit of gla ; a bit of land; a bit of one's mind. The word is often used in certain phrases expre ive of extent or degree; thus, "a bit older" means somewhat older, older to some extent; "not a bit, " not a whit, not in any degree; "a good bit older," a good deal older; "a bit of a humorist," somewhat of a humorist, etc. It is used depreciatingly or compa ionately: as, a little bit of a man; bits of children, that is, poor little children. His majesty has power to grant a patent for stamping round bits of copper. Swift. There are several bits at Val mon tone to delight an artist, especially at the entrance of the town, where a magnificent fragment of the ancient wall forms the foreground to some picturesque houses. A. G. C. Hare The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: Dictionary bit Your case is not a bit clearer than it was seven years ago. Arbuthnot. My young companion was a bit of a poet, a bit of an artist, a bit of a musician, and a bit of an actor. T. Hook, Gilbert Gurney, I. i. [Scotch.] -6. A small [Scotch.] 5. Crisis; nick of time. piece of ground; a spot. It's a bieldy enough bit. Scott , Waverley, II. xxiii. 7. Any small coin: as, a fourpenny- bit ; a sixpenny- bit . Specifically, the name of a small West Indian coin worth about 10 cents; also, in parts of the United States, of a silver coin formerly current (in some States called a Mexican shilling ) , of the value of 12 cents; now, chiefly in the West, the sum of 124 cents. With six bits in his pocket and an axe upon his shoulder. The Century, XXVII. 29. A bit of blood. See blood. - A long bit, fifteen cents. [Western U. S.] - A short bit, ten cents. [Western U. S.] - Bit by bit, little by little; imperceptibly. And, bit by bit , The cunning years steal all from us but woe. Lowell , Comm. Ode. To give a bit of one's mind, to speak out frankly what one thinks of a person or a transaction; expre one's candid conviction unrestrained by reserve or delicacy: generally to the person himself, and in unflattering terms. He had given the house what was called a bit of his mind on the subject, and he wished very much that he would give them the whole. Lord Campbell , London Times, April 12, 1864. = Syn. 4. Scrap, fragment, morsel, particle, atom. bit3 (bit). Preterit and occasional past participle of bite . bit4t. A Middle English and Anglo-Saxon contraction of biddeth, third person singular indicative present of bid.