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more about bit
bit |
13 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bit \Bit\, n. In the British West Indies, a fourpenny piece, or groat. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bit \Bit\, 3d sing. pr of {Bid}, for biddeth [Obs.] --Chaucer. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bit \Bit\, n. [OE. bitt, bite, AS bite, bite, fr b[=i]tan to bite. See {Bite}, n. & v., and cf {Bit} a morsel.] 1. The part of a bridle, usually of iron, which is inserted in the mouth of a horse, and having appendages to which the reins are fastened. --Shak. The foamy bridle with the bit of gold. --Chaucer. 2. Fig.: Anything which curbs or restrains. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bit \Bit\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bitted}; p. pr & vb n. {Bitting}.] To put a bridle upon to put the bit in the mouth of From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bit \Bit\, imp. & p. p. of {Bite}. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bit \Bit\, n. [OE. bite, AS bita, fr b[=i]tan to bite; akin to D. beet, G. bissen bit, morsel, Icel. biti. See {Bite}, v., and cf {Bit} part of a bridle.] 1. A part of anything such as may be bitten off or taken into the mouth; a morsel; a bite. Hence: A small piece of anything a little; a mite. 2. Somewhat; something but not very great. My young companion was a bit of a poet. --T. Hook. Note: This word is used also like jot and whit, to express the smallest degree; as he is not a bit wiser. 3. A tool for boring, of various forms and sizes, usually turned by means of a brace or bitstock. See {Bitstock}. 4. The part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers. --Knight. 5. The cutting iron of a plane. --Knight. 6. In the Southern and Southwestern States, a small silver coin (as the real) formerly current; commonly, one worth about 12 1/2 cents; also the sum of 12 1/2 cents. {Bit my bit}, piecemeal. --Pope. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Bite \Bite\, v. t. [imp. {Bit}; p. p. {Bitten}, {Bit}; p. pr & vb n. {Biting}.] [OE. biten, AS b[=i]tan; akin to D. bijten OS b[=i]tan, OHG. b[=i]zan, G. beissen Goth. beitan Icel. b[=i]ta, Sw bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. [root]87. Cf {Fissure}.] 1. To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man. Such smiling rogues as these Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. --Shak. 2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food. 3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense as pepper bites the mouth. ``Frosts do bite the meads.'' --Shak. 4. To cheat; to trick; to take in [Colloq.] --Pope. 5. To take hold of to hold fast to adhere to as the anchor bites the ground. The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned and turned with nothing to bite. --Dickens. {To bite the dust}, {To bite the ground}, to fall in the agonies of death; as he made his enemy bite the dust. {To bite in} (Etching), to corrode or eat into metallic plates by means of an acid. {To bite the thumb at} (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. ``Do you bite your thumb at us?'' --Shak. {To bite the tongue}, to keep silence. --Shak. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: bit adj : injured by bites or stings; "leaving the biter bit"; "her poor mosquito-bitten legs" [syn: {bitten}, {stung}] n 1: (British) a small quantity; "a spot of tea"; "a bit of paper" [syn: {spot}] 2: a small fragment of something broken off from the whole; "a bit of rock caught him in the eye" [syn: {chip}, {flake}, {fleck}, {scrap}] 3: an indefinitely short time; "wait just a moment"; "it only takes a minute"; "in just a bit" [syn: {moment}, {minute}, {second}] 4: an instance of some kind "it was a nice piece of work"; "he had a bit of good luck" [syn: {piece}] 5: piece of metal held in horse's mouth by reins and used to control the horse while riding; "the horse was not accustomed to a bit" 6: a unit of measurement of information (from Binary+digIT); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states; "there are 8 bits in a byte" 7: a small amount of solid food; a mouthful; "all they had left was a bit of bread" [syn: {morsel}, {bite}] 8: a short theatrical performance that is part of a longer program; "he did his act three times every evening"; "she had a catchy little routine"; "it was one of the best numbers he ever did" [syn: {act}, {routine}, {number}, {turn}] 9: the cutting part of a drill; usually pointed and threaded and is replaceable in a brace or bitstock or drill press; "he looked around for the right size bit" From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]: bit n. [from the mainstream meaning and `Binary digIT'] 1. [techspeak] The unit of information; the amount of information obtained by asking a yes-or-no question for which the two outcomes are equally probable. 2. [techspeak] A computational quantity that can take on one of two values, such as true and false or 0 and 1. 3. A mental flag: a reminder that something should be done eventually. "I have a bit set for you." (I haven't seen you for a while and I'm supposed to tell or ask you something.) 4. More generally, a (possibly incorrect) mental state of belief. "I have a bit set that says that you were the last guy to hack on EMACS." (Meaning "I think you were the last guy to hack on EMACS, and what I am about to say is predicated on this so please stop me if this isn't true.") "I just need one bit from you" is a polite way of indicating that you intend only a short interruption for a question that can presumably be answered yes or no A bit is said to be `set' if its value is true or 1, and `reset' or `clear' if its value is false or 0. One speaks of setting and clearing bits. To {toggle} or `invert' a bit is to change it either from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0. See also {flag}, {trit}, {mode bit}. The term `bit' first appeared in print in the computer-science sense in a 1948 paper by information theorist Claude Shannon, and was there credited to the early computer scientist John Tukey (who also seems to have coined the term `software'). Tukey records that `bit' evolved over a lunch table as a handier alternative to `bigit' or `binit', at a conference in the winter of 1943-44. From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: bitb binary digit. The unit of information; the amount of information obtained by asking a yes-or-no question; a computational quantity that can take on one of two values, such as true and false or 0 and 1; the smallest unit of storage - sufficient to hold one bit. A bit is said to be set" if its value is true or 1, and reset" or clear" if its value is false or 0. One speaks of setting and clearing bits. To {toggle} or invert" a bit is to change it either from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0. The term bit" first appeared in print in the computer-science sense in 1949, and seems to have been coined by early computer scientist John Tukey. Tukey records that it evolved over a lunch table as a handier alternative to bigit" or "binit". See also {flag}, {trit}, {mode bit}, {byte}, {word}. [{Jargon File}] (1996-11-03) From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Bit the curb put into the mouths of horses to restrain them The Hebrew word metheg so rendered in Ps 32:9 is elsewhere translated bridle" (2 Kings 19:28; Prov. 26:3; Isa. 37:29). Bits were generally made of bronze or iron, but sometimes also of gold or silver. In James 3:3 the Authorized Version translates the Greek word by "bits," but the Revised Version by "bridles." From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001 [vera]: BIT Basic Interconnection Test (ISO 9646-1) From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001 [vera]: BIT Binary digIT
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