bit
a small piece or quantity of something
How often you will meet it
Rank 666 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 28,605 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.014% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- a small piece or quantity of something also: spot a spot of teaa bit of paper
- a small fragment of something broken off from the whole also: chip, flake, fleck, scrap a bit of rock caught him in the eye
- an indefinitely short time also: moment, mo, minute, second wait just a momentin a mo
- an instance of some kind also: piece it was a nice piece of workhe had a bit of good luck
- piece of metal held in horse's mouth by reins and used to control the horse while riding the horse was not accustomed to a bit
- a unit of measurement of information (from binary + digit); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states there are 8 bits in a byte
bit in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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But I can see a bit of the mantelpiece.
Actions and reactions · Rudyard Kipling · Chapter 1
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Don’t mind if they’ve only sunk in a bit.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles · Agatha Christie · Chapter 1
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It was a very stupid bit of revelation, and Miss Brooke's eyes flashed.
Emily Fox-Seton · Frances Hodgson Burnett · Chapter 1
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Carn't yer jest turn the tables, old hoyster, and come for a bit of a fly?
Punch — Volume 99, August 16, 1890 · Various · Chapter 1
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He bit his lower lip and went and sat down before the desk again and turned on the electric reading-lamp.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1