Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - hit

 I. verb  (~; ~ting)  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hyttan, probably from Old Norse ~ta to meet with, ~  Date: before 12th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to reach with or as if with a blow  b. to come in contact with the ball ~ the window  c. to strike (as a ball) with an object (as a bat, club, or racket) so as to impart or redirect motion  2.  a. to cause to come into contact  b. to deliver (as a blow) by action  c. to apply forcefully or suddenly ~ the brakes  3. to affect especially detrimentally farmers ~ by drought  4. to make a request of ~ his friend for 10 dollars — often used with up  5. to discover or meet especially by chance  6.  a. to accord with ; suit  b. reach, attain prices ~ a new high  c. to arrive or appear at, in, or on ~ town the best time to ~ the stores  d. of fish to bite at or on  e. to reflect accurately ~ the right note  f. to reach or strike (as a target) especially for a score in a game or contest couldn't seem to ~ the basket  g. bat 2b  7. to indulge in excessively ~ the bottle  8. to deal another card to (as in blackjack)  intransitive verb  1.  a. to strike a blow  b. to arrive with a forceful effect like that of a blow the storm ~  2.  a. to come into contact with something  b. attack  c. of a fish strike 11b  d. bat 1  3. to succeed in attaining or coming up with something — often used with on or upon ~ on a solution  4. obsolete to be in agreement ; suit  5. of an internal combustion engine to fire the charge in the cylinders  • ~ter noun  II. noun  Date: 15th century  1. an act or instance of ~ting or being ~ more ~s than misses  2.  a. a stroke of luck  b. a great success  3. a telling or critical remark  4. base ~  5. a quantity of a drug ingested at one time  6. a premeditated murder committed especially by a member of a crime syndicate  7. an instance of connecting to a particular Web site a million ~s per day  8. a successful match in a search (as of a computer database or the Internet)  • ~less adjective