chit

plural chits

1. A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.

   Madam was a little chit of a woman, not five feet in her highest headdress and shoes, and Mr. Washington a great tall man of six feet two.

   1859, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians, Chapter VI

   2 more examples

   “These are returns,” I said, “quite fit To me, who nursed you when a chit. For shame, lay by this envious art; Is this to act a sister's part?”

   1922, Petronius Arbiter, translated by W. C. Firebaugh, Satyricon, Chapter 56

   […] he seemed to come forward from an era of sexual defiance and fighting alliances and to cast a dismissive eye over a little chit like Nick, who had never fought for anything.

   2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 4, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN

2. A pert or sassy young person, especially a young woman.

   Hilda drove in silence for some time after this piece of unheard-of insolence from that chit Connie.

   1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XVII, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC, page 305

plural chits

1. The embryonic growing bud of a plant.

   Near-synonyms: shoot, sprout, seedling

   2 more examples

   the chits of Indian corn or of potatoes

   The Barley after it has been couched four or five days in cold Weather will sweat a little, and begin to show the Chit or Sprit at the Root-end of the Corn,

   1721, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry: Or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land, page 217

   Synonyms: shoot, sprout, seedling

2. obsoleteAn excrescence on the body, as a wart or a pimple.

present singular third person chits · participle present chitting · participle past chitted · past chitted

1. UKdialectalintransitiveTo sprout; to shoot, as a seed or plant.

   I have known it chit in seven hours after it had been thrown forth of the Cistern and within three days come enough; the Maltster being forced to stir it six, seven or eight times a day,

   1721, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry: Or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land, page 217

2. UKdialectaltransitiveTo damage the outer layers of a seed such as Lupinus or Sophora to assist germination.
3. UKdialectaltransitiveTo initiate sprouting of tubers, such as potatoes, by placing them in special environment, before planting into the soil.

   Gardeners argue among themselves about how necessary chitting is, but I stick with tradition and do chit my seed potatoes.

   2010, Geoff Stebbings, Growing Your Own Fruit and Veg For Dummies, page 173

plural chits

1. UKdateddialectalA small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message.
2. UKdialectalhistoricalA voucher or token coin used in payrolls under the truck system.

   Synonyms: chitty, scrip, tommy

3. UKdialectalmedicineA small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
4. UKdialectalgamesA smaller cardboard counter generally used not to directly represent something but for another, more transient, purpose such as tracking or randomization.

   1 more example

   1.4.3 Also on the board, but turned face down at the beginning of the game, are chits representing treasure sites and sounds and warnings of monsters that may arrive on the map. When characters end a turn in the hex, these chits are revealed. As characters move around the board, more and more of these chits will be revealed, letting the players know where monsters and treasures are to be found.

   2005, Richard Hamblen, Teresa Michelsen, Stephen McKnight, The unofficial, updated Third Edition of the Magic Realm Rules

5. ChinaIndiaPhilippinesUKdialectalA signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club.

   1901, Falk, by Joseph Conrad He just longed to get away from here and try his luck somewhere else, but for the sake of his sister he hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his ears—I can tell you. I, myself, could show a handful of his chits for meals and drinks in my drawer.

   3 more examples

   The "chit system" needs special explanation. Throughout the Far East, the practice prevails of not paying for an article upon purchase. Where the soldier asks for "jawbone," the civilian usually asks to sign a "chit." In a restaurant you sign the check the waiter brings you instead of paying. You buy cigars the same way, and drinks as well. All the clubs use the system and so do the stores. At the end of each month the chits are sorted and a boy is sent out to collect their value.

   1913, Maurice P. Dunlap, “What Americans Talk In the Philippines”, in The American Review of Reviews, volume 48, page 202

   You might come in out of contempt for history—then you'd fall in love with the idea that you could make it, because history had assumed a debt that had never been paid—because, save in apparent trivial, vanishing moments, the debt had been forgotten, and even the chits had been lost.

   1989, Greil Marcus, “The Assault on Notre-Dame”, in Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009

   There's been a series of recurring Mass rapid transit (MRT) train breakdowns in Singapore that led to delays for commuters. A travel chit system was implemented where commuters could collect these hardcopy paper chits from the affected stations as documented evidence to be shown to their employers or educational institutions that they were involved in these delays, resulting in the commuters late for work/school.

   2017 August 18, Dennis Heng, “Improvement of MRT train travel chit expediting processes”, in LinkedIn, retrieved 05 Apr 2025

6. PhilippinesUKdialectalA restaurant bill or check

   When asking for the bill or chit in a Philippine restaurant, you can make use of hand signals if the waiter is quite far off.

   2007, Manuel Viloria, Asking for the Bill in a Philippine Restaurant, YouTube

7. UKUSdialectalslangA debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor.

   Harry would call in a chit with some desk manager who owed him a favor.

   2003, Linda Fairstein, The Bone Vault, Scribner, page 98

   1 more example

   Bill Clinton’s connections, and his endless supply of chits, only begin to capture his singular role in his wife’s presidential candidacy, advisers and friends of the couple say. […] And he is cashing in chits for her that Mr. Gore, post-impeachment, never asked him to do.

   2007 May 13, Patrick Healy, “In New Role, Senator Clinton’s Strategist in Chief”, in New York Times

plural chits

1. UKdialectalA small tool used in cleaving laths. Compare: froe.

   This should be specially selected, cut into lengths, and split by wedges into bolts, with a dowel axe into fittings, and with a chit split into laths.

   1905, William Millar, Plastering, Plain and Decorative, page 90

   1 more example

   Then lastly (with their Chit) they cleave their Laths into their thicknesses, by the Quarter Grain, which is that Grain which is seen to run in strait Lines towards the Pith.

   1734, The Builder’s Dictionary: Or, Architect’s Companion, volume II

1. UKUSdialectaleuphemisticslanguncountableShit.

1. UKUSdialectaleuphemisticslangShit.