bit
part of speech
noun (a bit, bits); verb form (past tense of bite: bite, bites, bit, bitten, biting)
meaning for a pupil
1) A bit is a small piece or small amount of something: a bit of cake. tree →
2) «A bit» means a little, slightly: I'm a bit tired. tree →
3) «A bit» can mean a short time: wait a bit. tree →
4) Bit is the past form of «bite»: the dog bit him. tree →
5) A bit is the metal bar in a horse's mouth, or the drilling end of a drill. tree →
6) In computers a bit is the smallest unit of information, a 0 or a 1. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: Past of "bite"; the snakes bit the people as a punishment. A bit is also the metal bar in a horse's mouth, used with a bridle to hold it in, and Amos uses the snake bite in a picture of escaping one danger only to meet another. Interpretation: The Israelites were healed by looking at the copper serpent that Moses made, which the rabbis said worked only when they turned their hearts to God. The psalm is read as a lesson to follow God willingly, with understanding, not to be forced. In the primary lessons: In everyday talk «a bit» softens words: «a bit cold», «a bit late». In maths «a bit more» is a small, not exact, amount. In stories «bit» often appears as the past of bite («the snake bit him»). In computing, data is made of bits; eight bits make a byte. Phrases: a bit of, bit by bit, a little bit, not a bit, quite a bit, bits and pieces.
examples
- And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (Torah NUM.21.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- Thus, the Sefer Yetzirah may have believed two di- bits, 0 and j , a tilting symbolization of the creation, out of chaos or nothing, of the universe, by the power of the Deity. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, that they come not near unto thee. (Writings PSA.32.9, JPS 1917) tree →
- As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; and went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. (Prophets AMO.5.19, JPS 1917) tree →
- Can I have a bit of your apple? tree →
- I'm a bit hungry. tree →
- Wait a bit; I'm nearly ready. tree →
- The dog bit the postman's trousers. tree →
- Bit by bit, the snowman got bigger. tree →
- The vase broke into bits. tree →
- Computers store information in bits, ones and zeros. tree →
- I'm not a bit scared! tree →
- Harlequin and Pulcinella hesitated a bit. tree →
note
«A bit» + adjective (a bit cold); «a bit of» + noun (a bit of bread). «Quite a bit» can mean quite a lot. «Not a bit» means not at all. As a verb form: bite → bit (past) → bitten («has bitten»). In maths answers, «a bit» is not a number; use the exact amount.
In the corpora
- And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
- A good way to sort any bit of gossip is to ask four things.
- A story passed from person to person is like a snowball rolling downhill: it picks up bits on the way.
- The first bits are often wrong.
- A bit of light gossip is fun, and most grown-ups enjoy it.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «bit» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.