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 mystic school: In notes 08, 10 and 11 the bits are 1 and 0, the first distinction; "every bit of information is one zero placed against one one". 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
- First the bits: 1 and 0. (note 08) tree →
- First the bits: 1 and 0. (note 10) tree →
- Every bit of information is one zero placed against one one. (note 11) tree →
- The note reads the day it was presented, 10.08.2006, as first the bits 1 and 0, then the 8 (eternity), then the 6. (lesson 019) tree →
- The note says the date 10.08.2006, when the inward vortex was written down, begins with the bits 1 and 0, then the 8, then the 6. (lesson 022) 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
- 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.
- Which bits do you reckon they picked?" Alfie grins: "The shouty ones."
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «bit» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.