fist

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

fist¹ /fɪst/   n. [countable]

1. the hand closed tightly with the fingers doubled into the palm.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

fist¹  (fist), n. 

1. the hand closed tightly, with the fingers doubled into the palm.
2. Informal Terms the hand.
3. Informal Terms a person's handwriting.
4. [Print.] index (def. 8).

v.t. 

5. to make (one's hand) into a fist.
6. to grasp in the fist.

• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English fȳst; cognate with German Faust fist; perh. akin to five

fist²  (fīst), n. 

1. feist.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fist / fɪst/ noun

1. a hand with the fingers clenched into the palm, as for hitting
2. Also called: fistful the quantity that can be held in a fist or hand
3. an informal word for hand, index9

verb

1. (transitive) to hit with the fist

Etymology: Old English fӯst; related to Old Frisian fest, Old Saxon, Old High German fūst; see five