hoit

H4O1I1T1
UK/ˈhɔɪt/

verb

To behave frivolously and thoughtlessly; to play the fool.

OriginMiddle English hote →
Scrabble 7
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

hoit1

verbhoit (third-person singular simple present hoits, present participle hoiting, simple past and past participle hoited)

present singular third person hoits · participle present hoiting · participle past hoited · past hoited

  1. archaicintransitiveTo behave frivolously and thoughtlessly; to play the fool.

    Let none condemn them [girls] for Rigs, becauſe thus hoiting vvith boys, ſeeing the ſimplicity of their age vvas a Patent to priviledge any innocent paſtime, and fevv mo[r]e years vvill make them bluſh themſelves into better manners.

    1650, Thomas Fuller, “Of the Clothes and Ornaments of the Jews”, in A Pisgah-sight of Palestine and the Confines thereof, with the History of the Old and New Testament Acted thereon, London: […] J. F. for John Williams […], →OCLC, book IV, section VI (The Habits of Girles, Virgins, Brides, Wives, and Widows amongst the Jews), paragraph 2, page 110
  2. intransitiveobsoleteTo romp noisily; to caper, to leap.

    Hark, my husband! he's singing and hoiting; and I'm fain to cark and care, and all little enough

    1607 (first performance), Francis Beaumont, “The Knight of the Burning Pestle”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv

hoit2

verbhoit (third-person singular simple present hoits, present participle hoiting, simple past and past participle hoit)

present singular third person hoits · participle present hoiting

  1. intransitivepronunciation spellingPronunciation spelling of hurt.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishhote“to promise, etc.”
  2. Englishhoit

Unknown. Possibly from Old Norse, or a native Old English term. Perhaps somehow from Middle English hote (“to promise, etc.”). Compare Welsh hoetian (“to dally, dandle”), as well as Scots hoit (“to move awkwardly or clumsily, especially of a stout person or animal, to waddle”), which may be more plausible (especially in sense 2).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with hoit

Detroitexploitdroitdoitadroitquoitintroitdacoitschuit
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Hoti
Cite this entry
APA

hoit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoit

MLA

“hoit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoit. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hoit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoit.

Source: hoit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.