semi-&lit

noun

An extended definition clue, especially one in which the definition is only a word such as this or who that cannot define the answer alone.

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Meanings

nounsemi-&lit (plural semi-&lits)

plural semi-&lits

  1. crosswordingAn extended definition clue, especially one in which the definition is only a word such as this or who that cannot define the answer alone.

    Clue of the day: A semi &lit: the definition cannot be read in a stand-alone way.

    2024 June 4, “Clue Of The Day: The Times: 4 June 2020”, in Cracking the Cryptic
    2 more examples

    Cooking that’s fuss-free, requiring no bits of expensive equipment before you start (4,3) [...] As woks are fairly cheap equipment and stir-fry cooking is a fairly simple process, the whole clue is an extended definition, so a “semi-&lit”.

    2024 August 23, Peter Biddlecombe, “Sunday Times clue writing contest 2032: Stir-fry”, in Sunday Times

    Who published articles in German about scientific topics originally? (8) EIN + EIN ("articles in German") about S(cientific) T(opics) [originally] and semi &lit.

    2024 March 20, Loonapick, “Guardian Cryptic 29,335 by Jack”, in Fifteensquare

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
extended definition

Origin

From semi- + &lit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

semi-&lit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semi-%26lit

MLA

“semi-&lit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semi-%26lit. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semi-&lit,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semi-%26lit.

Source: semi-&lit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.