fix

present singular third person fixes · participle present fixing · participle past fixt · past fixt · participle past fixed · past fixed · first person past singular fixed · archaic present second person singular fixest · past second person singular fixed · archaic past second person singular fixedst · present singular third person fixes · archaic present singular third person fixeth · past singular third person fixed · past plural fixed · past subjunctive fixed · participle present fixing

1. obsoletetransitiveTo pierce; now generally replaced by transfix.
   1. broadlyobsoletetransitive(Of a piercing look) to direct at someone.

      He fixed me with a sickly grin, and said, "I told you it wouldn't work!"

      1 more example

      She sniffed, too, comprehendingly, and fixed her son with a relentless eye.

      1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 111

2. transitiveTo attach; to affix; to hold in place or at a particular time.

   The Constitution fixes the date when Congress must meet.

   3 more examples

   A dab of chewing gum will fix your note to the bulletin board.

   A leech can fix itself to your skin without you feeling it.

   We've come a long, long way boys! Now it's time for America to show its teeth. Fix bayonets!

   2016, DICE, Battlefield 1 (Historical Fiction), Stockholm: Electronic Arts, PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4, scene: American Ballroom Blitz Pre-Battle Speech (Operations), set in 1918 during World War I

   1. figurativelypassivetransitiveusuallyTo focus or determine (oneself, on a concept); to fixate.

      She's fixed on the idea of becoming a doctor.

   2. transitiveboard gamesTo prevent enemy pawns from advancing by directly opposing the most advanced one with one of one's own pawns so as to threaten to capture any advancing backward pawns.
3. transitiveTo mend, to repair.

   Fix this for me.

   2 more examples

   That heater will start a fire if you don't fix it.

   You can't fix stupid.

   1. excessivetransitiveTo be immensely pleasurable to.

      Some pizza rolls would fix me right now.

      1 more example

      Getting tongued by a hot woman would fix me.

4. ditransitiveinformalTo prepare (food or drink).

   She fixed dinner for the kids.

   2 more examples

   She fixed Peter a slice of black bread and jam by cutting the hard crust petalwise around the edge, so the child could tear off convenient pieces.

   1945, Marianne Steiff Finton Meisel, Years Before the Flood, page 14

   I fixed us drinks—orange juice with some vodka I'd gotten on sale—and washed a few dishes to get my mind off Jess and the fact of his not texting back.

   2013, Iris Smyles, Iris Has Free Time, Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, →ISBN, page 94

5. transitiveTo make (a contest, vote, or gamble) unfair; to privilege one contestant or a particular group of contestants, usually before the contest begins; to arrange immunity for defendants by tampering with the justice system via bribery or extortion.

   A majority of voters believed the election was fixed in favor of the incumbent.

   Synonyms: doctor, rig

6. USinformaltransitiveTo surgically render an animal, especially a pet, infertile.

   Rover stopped digging under the fence after we had the vet fix him.

7. transitivehuman sciencesTo map (a point or subset) to itself.

   The function f#58;#92;mathbb#123;R#125;#92;to#92;mathbb#123;R#125;#59;f(x)#58;#61;4x-3 fixes the point 1#92;in#92;mathbb#123;R#125;, since f(1)#61;4(1)-3#61;1.

8. informaltransitiveTo take revenge on, to best; to serve justice on an assumed miscreant.

   He got caught breaking into lockers, so a couple of guys fixed him after work.

9. transitiveTo render (a photographic impression) permanent by treating with such applications as will make it insensitive to the action of light.
10. transitivebiologyTo convert into a stable or available form.

    Legumes are valued in crop rotation for their ability to fix nitrogen.

    1 more example

    it is well to fix with sodium hyposulphite , and to wash as usual

    1878, William de Wiveleslie Abney, A treatise on photography

11. intransitiveTo become fixed; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering; to rest.

    Accuſing ſome malignant Star, Not Britain, for that fateful War, Your kindneſs baniſhes your fear, Reſolv’d to fix for ever here.

    1665, Edmund Waller, Upon Her Maiesties New Buildings at Somerset-House

    1 more example

    A cheerless place! the solitary Bee, Whose buzzing was the only sound of life, Flew there on restless wing, Seeking in vain one blossom, where to fix.

    1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC

    Synonyms: establish, settle down

12. intransitiveTo become firm, so as to resist volatilization; to cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable, as a metallic substance.

    quicksilver will fix, so asto endure the hammer

    1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

13. intransitiveslangTo shoot up; to inject a drug.

    She doesn't have to worry about stool pigeons because every law in the Federal District knows that Lupita sells junk. She keeps outfits in glasses of alcohol so the junkies can fix in the joint and walk out clean.

    1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books

14. transitiveTo arrange (an event etc.).

    Could you fix it for me to meet the band backstage?

plural fixes · alternative archaic verb fixe

1. A repair or corrective action.

   That plumber's fix is much better than the first one's.

   1 more example

   Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.

   2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21

2. A difficult situation; a quandary or dilemma; a predicament.

   It rained before we repaired the roof, and were we in a fix!

   1 more example

   "How come you're in this fix?"

   1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 13

   Synonyms: ass in a sling, bind, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross, cross to bear, difficulty

3. slangA single dose of a narcotic drug, especially when injected.

   Just one fix!

   1992, William Alain Jourgensen, “Just One Fix”, in Psalm 69, performed by Ministry

   2 more examples

   And Cash told me of cases where two hips take a fix together and then one pulls out his badge.

   1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books

   Maybe I will find in yage what I was looking for in junk and weed and coke. Yage may be the final fix.

   1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books

   1. broadlyfigurativelyslangSomething that satisfies a yearning or a craving.
   2. broadlyfigurativelyslangA compulsive desire or thrill.
4. A prearrangement of the outcome of a supposedly competitive process, such as a sporting event, a game, an election, a trial, or a bid.

   As the professional thief notes: You can tell by the way the case is handled in court when the fix is in.

   1963, Howard Saul Becker, Outsiders: studies in the sociology of deviance, page 160

5. An understanding, grasp of something.

   Each character comes to us with her own particular fix on reality, shaped by a lifetime of experience and by the urgencies of the moment.

   1981 December 1, Susan Saxe, “Survival with Agony and Art”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 9

6. A determination of location.

   We have a fix on your position.

7. aeronauticsA non-waypoint terrain feature used to make a determination of location.
8. USFettlings (mixture used to line a furnace).

plural FIXs

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of factor IX (clotting factor IX).

plural Fixes

1. A surname.