Sit1, v. i.
[imp. SAT; p. p. SAT (SITTEN, obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. SITTING.] [A-S. sittan, for sitian, O. Sax. sittian, Icel. sitia, O. Fries. & Sw. sitta, Dan. sidde, Goth. sitan, D. zitten, O. D. sitten, O. H. Ger. sizzen, N. H. Ger. sitzen, allied to Lat. sedere, Gr. ἕζεσθαι, Skr. sad.]
Sense 1. To rest upon the haunches; — said of human beings, and sometimes of other animals; as, to sit on a sofa or on the ground.
Sense 2. To perch; to rest on the feet, as birds.
Sense 3. To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position.
Like a demigod here sit I in the sky. Shak.
Sense 4. Hence, to lie, rest, or bear; — with on; as, a weight or burden sits heavily upon him.
Pale horror sat on each Arcadian face. Dryden.
Sense 5. To be adjusted; to fit; as, a coat sits well or ill.
This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, Sits not so easy on me as you think. Shak.
Sense 6. To incubate; to cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl. “As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.” Jer. xvii. 11.
Sense 7. To hold a session; to be officially engaged in public business, as judges, legislators, or officers of any kind; as, the court sits in January.
Sense 8. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position.
Like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits. Selden.
Sits the wind in that quarter? W. Scott.
To sit at meat, to be at table for eating. — To sit down. (a.) To place one’s self on a chair or other seat; as, to sit down at a meal. (b.) To begin a siege; as, the enemy sat down before the town. (c.) To settle; to fix a permanent abode. Spenser. (d.) To rest; to cease as satisfied. “Here we can not sit down, but still proceed in our search.” Rogers. — To sit for a portrait, to give an artist an opportunity to make a portrait of one’s self; to assume a position in order to have one’s portrait painted. — To sit out, to be without engagement or employment. [Obs.] Saunderson. — To sit up. (a.) To rise or be raised from a recumbent posture. “He that was dead sat up, and began to speak.” Luke vii. 15. (b.) To refrain from lying down; as, to sit up late at night; also, to watch; as, to sit up with a sick person. (c.) To assume or maintain the posture of one who is seated; as, he is too ill to sit up.