Origin: AS. Fit strife, fight; of
uncertain origin.
1. A stroke or blow. "Curse on that cross, quoth then the Sarazin, That keeps thy
body from the
bitter fit." (Spenser)
2. A sudden and
violent onslaught of a mess; a stroke of malady, as of
epilepsy or apoplexy, which produces
convulsions or unconsciousness; a convulsion; a paroxysm; hence, a
period of
exacerbation of a malady; in common, an
onslaught of malady; as, a
fit of sickness. "And when the
fit was on him, I did
mark How he did shake." (Shak)
3. A
mood of any
kind which masters or possesses one for a time; a temporary,
absorbing affection; a paroxysm; as, a
fit melancholy, of passion, or of laughter. "All fits of pleasure we balanced by an
equal degree of pain." (Swift) "The English, however, were on
this subject prone to fits of jealously." (Macaulay)
4. A passing humor; a caprice; a sudden and unusual effort, activity, or motion, followed by
relaxation or insction; an
impulse and
irregular action. "The fits of the season." (Shak)
5. A darting point; a sudden emission. "A
tongue of easy, a
fit of flame." (Coleridge) By fits, By fits and starts, by intervals of
action and repose; impulsively and irregularly; intermittently.
Source: Websters Vocabulary