the egg of a louse, esp when adhering to human hair the larva of a louse or similar insect
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
nit1 /nɪt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
nit2 /nɪt/USA pronunciation n. [countable][Brit.]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Insectsthe egg of an insect that lives off a larger animal, esp. of a louse.
- Insectsthe young of such an insect.
nit2 /nɪt/USA pronunciation n. [countable][Brit.]
- a nitwit.
nit1
(nit),USA pronunciation n.
nit2 (nit),USA pronunciation n. [Physics.]
nit3 (nit),USA pronunciation n. [Chiefly Brit.]
- the egg of a parasitic insect, esp. of a louse, often attached to a hair or a fiber of clothing.
- the young of such an insect.
- Middle English nite, Old English hnitu, cognate with Dutch neet, German Niss, Norwegian nit bef. 900
nit2 (nit),USA pronunciation n. [Physics.]
- a unit of luminous intensity equal to one candela per square meter. Abbr.: nt
- 1950–55; extracted from Latin nitor brightness; see nitid, -or1
nit3 (nit),USA pronunciation n. [Chiefly Brit.]
- a nitwit.
- by shortening
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a unit of luminance equal to 1 candela per square metre
short for nitwit
a unit of information equal to 1.44 bits
Also called: nepit
- keep nit ⇒
to keep watch, esp during illegal activity
'nit' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
British thermal unit
- Carnegie unit
- English sennit
- Eötvös unit
- Heaviside unit function
- Nippon
- ammonite
- angstrom
- arithmetic/logic unit
- astronomical unit
- atomic mass unit
- atomic unit of length
- audio response unit
- bargaining unit
- base unit
- central processing unit
- common sennit
- compensatory lengthening
- control unit
- coronary-care unit
- cost unit
- cyclonite
- derived unit
- electromagnetic unit
- electrostatic unit
- extravehicular mobility unit
- flat sennit
- formula unit
- fundamental unit
- imaginary unit
- intensive care unit
- international unit
- interunit
- living unit
- message unit
- mobile unit
- monetary unit
- motor unit
- multiple-unit car
- multiunit
- neat
- nepit
- nisus
- nit-lamp
- nit-pick
- nit-picking
- nitfly
- nitid
- niton
- nitpick