kit

Noun (1)

kit (countable and uncountable, plural kits)

1. A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves.
2. A kind of basket made especially from straw of rushes, especially for holding fish; by extension, the contents of such a basket or similar container, used as a measure of weight.
   • He was pushing a barrow on the fish dock, wheeling aluminium kits which, when full, each contain 10 stone of fish.1961 18 Jan, Guardian (cited after OED)
3. A collection of items forming the equipment of a soldier, carried in a knapsack.
   • Dudes! You simply have too much stuff in your kit! But don't sweat it, I can buy some stuff you don't need.1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
4. Any collection of items needed for a specific purpose, especially for use by a workman, or personal effects packed for travelling.
   • Always carry a good first-aid kit.
5. A collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble.
   • I built the entire car from a kit.
6. (UK) The standard set of clothing, accessories and equipment worn by players.
   • A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was...2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph
7. (UK, informal) Clothing.
   • Get your kit off and come to bed.
   • The Argentina fan who risked jail by getting her kit off at the World Cup final has broken her silence by posting more topless videos.2022 December 20, “Topless Argie fan breaks silence with more nude vids as she dodges Qatar's wrath”, in The US Sun
8. (informal) A full software distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade.
9. The set of skills and abilities chosen for a playable character.
10. A drum kit.
11. (dated) The whole set; kit and caboodle.
    • Do you know the proportion between ten and twelve or thirteen? — No; I should suppose you may take the whole kit of them as thirty; and the rest are people at from twenty to forty years of age.1818, Reports, volume 92, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, page 82

Verb

kit (third-person singular simple present kits, present participle kitting, simple past and past participle kitted)

1. (transitive) To assemble or collect something into kits.
   • We need to kit the parts for the assembly by Friday, so that manufacturing can build the tool.
2. (transitive) To equip (somebody) with something.

   Synonyms:

   kit out, kit up

Noun (2)

kit (plural kits)

1. A kitten (young cat).
2. (broadly) A cat in general.
   • “You must call them ‘squibs and crackers.’ And what would you call her?” pointing to the cat. ¶ “Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir.”1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Master of all Masters”, in English Fairy Tales, page 221
3. A kit fox (Vulpes macrotis).
4. A young fox.
5. A young beaver.
6. A young ferret.
7. A young skunk.
8. A young rabbit.
9. A young weasel.

Noun (3)

kit (plural kits)

1. Synonym of kit violin.
   • A dancing master's kit.1681, Nehemiah Grew, Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or A Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham Colledge. […], London: […]...
   • Prince Turveydrop then tinkled the strings of his kit with his fingers, and the young ladies stood up to dance.1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   kit violin

Noun (4)

kit (plural kits)

1. (collective) A flock of pigeons, especially domesticated, trained pigeons and especially when flying together.
   • Keeping a kit of what are known as High-Flyers, is great sport for some people.1921, John Wesley Williamson, A to Z of Pigeons: Fancy and Utility, with Latest Standards, Item Publishing Company, page 9
   • I saw a kit of pigeons swinging round some nearby chimney pots. I marked the spot and made for the house.2013, Old Hand, The Strain Makers: The Art of Breeding Long Distance Pigeons, Read Books Limited

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Kit

IPA/kɪt/

Kit

1. A diminutive of the male given name Christopher.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Kit

IPA/kɪt/

Kit

1. A diminutive of the female given name Katherine and related female given names.

Proper noun (3) capitalized: Kit

IPA/kɪt/

Kit

1. A transliteration of the Ukrainian surname Кіт (Kit).

Proper noun (4) capitalized: Kit

IPA/kɪt/

Kit

1. (Hong-Kong) A male given name from Cantonese 傑 /杰 (git⁶).

Phrase capitalized: KIT

KIT

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of keep in touch.