Obs. exc. dial. Also 7 chet. [Goes with CHIT sb.3, as its immed. source, or immediate derivative: cf. to sprout, bud, seed, etc.] intr. Of seed: To sprout, germinate.

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1601.  Holland, Pliny, II. 22. Dill seed will chit within foure daies, Lectuce in fiue. Ibid. (1610), Camden’s Brit., I. 280. That steeped barly sprouting and chitting againe.

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1664.  Evelyn, Sylva, i. § 4. To Sprout and Chet the Sooner.

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1727.  Bradley, Fam. Dict., I. s.v. Chitting, Seed … is said to chit, when it shoots its small Roots first into the Earth.

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1796.  C. Marshall, Garden., § 15 (1813), 239. Laying it [seed] in damp mould till it begins to chit.

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1883.  Hants. Gloss. (E. D. S.), Chit, to bud, or germinate.

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1886.  W. Lincolnsh. Gloss. (E. D. S.), s.v., The corn has not chitted a deal.

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1888.  Berksh. Gloss. (E. D. S.), Chit, to sprout.

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