Hit I Extra Examples Head Suddenly Ball Hɪt

• i was afraid he was going to hit me.
• she hit him with her umbrella.
• someone hit him in the face.
• he hit the nail squarely on the head with the hammer.

hit

Verb Forms

1. to bring your hand, or an object you are holding, against somebody/something quickly and with force
• SEE ALSO king-hit
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/king-hit_2
• I was afraid he was going to hit me.
• She hit him with her umbrella.
• Someone hit him in the face.
• He hit the nail squarely on the head with the hammer.

Extra Examples

• He hit her with a stick.
• He was hit over the head with a broken bottle.
• I was so angry, I wanted to hit him.
• She didn't hit me very hard.
• She hit him in the face.
• Their teachers used to hit them with a stick.
• I felt like hitting him.
• I picked up a pan and hit him over the head with it.
• My parents never used to hit me.
2. to come against something/somebody with force, especially causing damage or injury
• The bus hit the bridge.
• The boy was hit by a speeding car.
• The boat hit against an object under the surface of the water.

Extra Examples

• A taxi almost hit him as he was crossing the street.
• She threw a plate at him and narrowly missed hitting him.
• I was hit by a falling stone.
3. to knock a part of your body against something
• I must have hit my knee.
• He hit his head on the low ceiling.
• As she stood up, she hit her hand against the edge of the table.

Extra Examples

• I accidentally hit my knee on the desk.
• I hit my head on the low doorway.
• He fell, hitting his head on the hard stone floor.
4. to reach and touch a person or thing suddenly and with force
• The town was hit by bombs again last night.
• He was hit by a sniper.
• Not all the bullets hit their targets.

Extra Examples

• The grenade will explode as soon as it hits the ground.
• He was hit directly in the back.
5. to bring a bat, etc. against a ball and push it away with force
• SEE ALSO pinch-hit
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/pinch-hit
• She hit the ball and ran to first base.
• I hit the ball too hard and it went out of the court.
• We've hit our ball over the fence!
6. to score points by hitting a ball
• to hit a home run
7. to press something such as a button to operate a machine, etc.
• Hit the brakes!
• He picked up the phone and hit several buttons.
• I found the impulse to hit the fast-forward button to be quite overwhelming.
• I accidentally hit the wrong key.
• Enter your password and then hit ‘Return’.
8. to have a bad effect on somebody/something
• The tax increases will certainly hit the poor.
• His death didn't really hit me at first.
• A tornado hit on Tuesday night.
• Rural areas have been worst hit by the strike.
• Spain was one of the hardest hit countries.
• It hit him very hard when Rosie left.

Extra Examples

• Our department has been badly hit by the cutbacks.
• Some businesses have been hit very hard by the rise in interest rates.
• The plans could be hit by spending cuts.
• Airlines were badly hit by the recession.
9. to attack somebody/something
• We hit the enemy when they least expected it.
10. to reach a place
• Follow this footpath and you'll eventually hit the road.
• The President hits town tomorrow.

Extra Examples

• Traffic was heavy when they hit the main road.
• They were making good progress when they hit a wide fast-flowing river.
• It'll be two hours before we hit the border.
• By the time we hit the city centre, everything was closed.
11. to reach a particular level
• Temperatures hit 40° yesterday.
• The euro hit a record low in trading today.
• We hit top form (= played our best) in yesterday’s match.
• The film doesn't always hit its targets (= succeed in what it is attempting to do).

Extra Examples

• He had managed to hit his sales target this month.
• Temperatures are expected to hit 30°C tomorrow.
12. to experience something difficult or unpleasant
• We seem to have hit a problem.
• Everything was going well but then we hit trouble.
13. to come suddenly into your mind
• The idea hit me like a tornado.
• I couldn't remember where I'd seen him before, and then it suddenly hit me.
• That's when it really hit me that we were in deep trouble.
14. to become widely available for sale
• the latest board game to hit the market
• to hit the shops/stores/shelves
• Her shocking autobiography is about to hit the streets.
15. to be an important item of news in the media

Extra Examples

• He always manages to grab the headlines.
• The hospital hit the headlines when a number of suspicious deaths occurred.
• The story was important enough to make the headlines.
16. to be very successful
• The band has hit big in the US.
17. if a plan, somebody’s career, etc. hits the buffers, it suddenly stops being successful
• The former tennis star’s comeback trail hit the buffers yesterday when she lost in straight sets.
18. to fall to the ground
19. to affect somebody very deeply
• The business over the lawsuit had really knocked her for six.
20. to start doing something and continue very quickly and successfully
21. to go to bed
• I decided to hit the sack and have an early night.
22. if a remark, etc. hits/strikes home, it has a strong effect on somebody, in a way that makes them realize what the true facts of a situation are
• Her face went pale as his words hit home.
23. to be very obvious to somebody
24. used to tell somebody to start doing something, such as playing music
• Hit it, Louis!
25. to have a good friendly relationship with somebody
• We hit it off straight away.
26. to make or win a lot of money quickly and unexpectedly
27. to succeed/fail in achieving or guessing something
• He blushed furiously and Robyn knew she had hit the mark.
• The film misses the mark because it just isn't believable.
28. to say something that is exactly right
29. to mention a subject that makes somebody feel angry, upset, embarrassed, etc.
• You touched a raw nerve when you mentioned his first wife.
• My remarks about divorce had unwittingly touched a raw nerve.
• The article struck a raw nerve as it revived unpleasant memories.
30. to suddenly be in a successful situation, especially one that makes you rich
• The band really hit pay dirt with their last album.
31. to do, say or write something that is suitable/not suitable for a particular occasion
• It is a bizarre tale and the author hits just the right note of horror and disbelief.
• Unfortunately, the president struck the wrong note in his speech, ignoring the public mood.
32. to start a journey
• The following spring I hit the road.
33. to suddenly become very angry
34. if something hits the spot it does exactly what it should do
35. to begin to do something with confidence and at a good speed after a slow, uncertain start
• After a nervous start, he finally hit his stride in the second set.
• The team took time to hit stride.
• The show finally hit its stride in the second season.
36. to reach a point when you cannot continue or make any more progress
• We hit a wall and we weren't scoring.
• I’ve hit a wall with my marathon training.
• What do you do when you hit the wall at work?
37. to continue to hurt somebody when they are already defeated
38. to affect somebody where they will feel it most
39. to hit the wooden frame of the goal in the game of football (soccer), instead of scoring a goal
• She hit the woodwork twice before scoring.
40. to be so surprised by something that you do not know how to react
41. when somebody in authority finds out about something bad or wrong that somebody has done
• When the shit hits the fan, I don't want to be here.

Word Origin

• late Old English hittan (in the sense ‘come upon, find’), from Old Norse hitta ‘come upon, meet with’, of unknown origin.