[f. FIT v.1]
1. The process of fitting or rendering fit. † a. In the phrase out of fit, app. meaning ‘fitted out, settled in life’ (obs. rare–1.). b. A preparation or fitting for something (U.S.). Cf. outfit.
a. 1688. Bunyan, Heavenly Footman (1698), 42. Till my children are out of Fit.
1883. W. A. Mowry, in New Eng. Jrnl. Educ., XVII. 1 March, 133/2. Phillips Academy, Andover, has for many years given an excellent fit for college, by being thorough, and insisting on mental discipline.
2. A fitting or adaptation of one thing to another, esp. the adjustment of dress to the body; the style or manner in which something is made to fit. To a fit: to a nicety.
1823. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom & Jerry, I. iv. Jerry. A tight fit, not much hunting room,—no matter,—there, Tom, I’m all fly.
1868. Yates, The Rock Ahead, II. II. iii. 127. He noticed all these details down to the fit of her gloves and the colour of her bonnet-strings.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 69.
| A man | |
| May wish new clothes, who is not wholly naked, | |
| May feel he has outgrown his baby robes, | |
| May be ashamed too of his rustic fit, | |
| And fain to dress his soul in the last fashion. |
1890. C. M. Woodward, Manual Train., xv. 247. How to saw to a fit on the right or left of a line.
b. concr. A garment that fits.
1831. Examiner, 11/2. It’s rather a tight fit.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xviii. The bustling tailor tried on a gown and pronounced that it was an excellent fit.
3. Soap-making. The condition of the liquid soap in the operation of ‘fitting’; see FIT v. 10.
1885. W. L. Carpenter, Manuf. Soap, vi. 173. Practice and observation alone enable the operator to obtain ‘a good fit,’ and when it is obtained, the steam is turned off, and the whole is allowed to stand. Ibid. A fine fit gives a very large nigre, containing much soap; while a coarse fit gives a small nigre, composed chiefly of impure lye.
4. A fit-out: a furnishing with all that is requisite, esp. in dress; an equipment.
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xix. 129. They condescended to have a regular fit out—and it so happened that the fit out was not far from a regular fit.
1844. Dickens, Mart. Chuz., xxiii. Who says we ain’t got a first-rate fit-out?
5. Comb., as fit-rod (see quot.).
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Fit-rod. A small iron rod with a hook at the end, which is put into the holes made in a vessel’s side, to ascertain the length of the bolts or treenails required to be driven in.
