Quit (kwĭt), a. [OE. quite, OF. quite, F. quitte. See Quit, v., Quiet.] Released from obligation, charge, penalty, etc.; free; clear; absolved; acquitted. Chaucer.
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The owner of the ox shall be quit. Ex. xxi. 28.
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☞ This word is sometimes used in the form quits, colloquially; as, to be quits with one, that is, to have made mutual satisfaction of demands with him; to be even with him; hence, as an exclamation: Quits! we are even, or on equal terms. “To cry quits with the commons in their complaints.” Fuller.
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Quit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quit or Quitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Quitting.] [OE. quiten, OF. quiter, quitier, cuitier, F. quitter, to acquit, quit, LL. quietare, fr. L. quietare to calm, to quiet, fr. quietus quiet. See Quiet, a., and cf. Quit, a., Quite, Acquit, Requite.]
1. To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate. [R.]
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To quit you of this fear, you have already looked Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it? Wake.
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2. To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, or the like; to absolve; to acquit.
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There may no gold them quyte. Chaucer.
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God will relent, and quit thee all his debt. Milton.
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3. To discharge, as an obligation or duty; to meet and satisfy, as a claim or debt; to make payment for or of; to requite; to repay.
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The blissful martyr quyte you your meed. Chaucer.
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Enkindle all the sparks of nature
To quit this horrid act. Shak.
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Before that judge that quits each soul his hire. Fairfax.
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4. To meet the claims upon, or expectations entertained of; to conduct; to acquit; -- used reflexively.
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Be strong, and quit yourselves like men. 1 Sam. iv. 9.
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Samson hath quit himself
Like Samson. Milton.
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5. To carry through; to go through to the end. [Obs.]
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Never worthy prince a day did quit
With greater hazard and with more renown. Daniel.
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6. To have done with; to cease from; to stop; hence, to depart from; to leave; to forsake; as, “to quit work; to quit the place; to quit jesting.”
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Such a superficial way of examining is to quit truth for appearance. Locke.
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To quit cost, to pay; to reimburse. -- To quit scores, to make even; to clear mutually from demands.
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Does not the earth quit scores with all the elements in the noble fruits that issue from it? South.
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Syn. -- To leave; relinquish; resign; abandon; forsake; surrender; discharge; requite. -- Quit, Leave. Leave is a general term, signifying merely an act of departure; quit implies a going without intention of return, a final and absolute abandonment.
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