bit

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. scrap, mite; slice, piece; tool, drill; curb; informal, routine. See part, littleness, speciality.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A small quantity]

Syn. piece, fragment, crumb, dot, particle, jot, trifle, mite, grain, iota, whit, tittle, scintilla, splinter, parcel, portion, drop, droplet, trickle, driblet, sprinkling, modicum, morsel, dollop, dab, dash, pinch, snippet, snip, shred, atom, speck, molecule, mote, shard, chip, fraction, sliver, segment, section, lump, slice, shaving, moiety, sample, specimen, scale, flake, collop, excerpt, scrap, part, division, share, trace, hint, touch, tad, item, chunk, paring, taste, lick, mouthful, bite, dose, dram, stub, butt, stump, snatch, a drop in the bucket*, peanuts*, chicken feed*, smithereen*, smidgen*, flyspeck*, spot*; see also division 2 , part 1 , piece 1 .

Ant. quantity*, lot*, excess.

2. [A brief time]

Syn. second, instant, minute, jiffy; see moment 1 .

3. [A small degree]

Syn. little, jot, minimum, inch, tittle, modicum, hairbreadth, trifle, touch, tad, iota, mite, fraction, tolerance, margin, whisker*, wink*, hair*, skin of one's teeth*, skin of one's nose*, eyelash*.

Ant. infinitude, maximum, Great deal.

4. [The mouthpiece of a bridle]

Syn. curb, curb bit, snaffle, gag; see halter 1 .

5. [A boring or gouging implement]

Syn. rock drill, drift, auger; see drill 2 .

Varieties of bits include: carpenter's, blacksmith's, drilling-machine, spiral, expanding, brace, expanding-center, German, half-round, plug-center, twisted, coal-boring, countersink.

• do one's bit,

Syn. participate, share, do one's share, contribute; see join 2 , participate 1 .

• every bit,

Syn. wholly, altogether, entirely; see completely .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. piece fragment, fraction, portion, particle, section, snippet, segment.

2. moment second, minute, jiffy, flash, *quick as a wink, time, spell, instant.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb To control, restrict, or arrest: brake, bridle, check, constrain, curb, hold, hold back, hold down, hold in, inhibit, keep, keep back, pull in, rein (back, in, or up), restrain. See RESTRAINT.

V

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. A tiny amount: crumb, dab1, dash, dot, dram, drop, fragment, grain, iota, jot, minim, mite, modicum, molecule, ort, ounce, particle, scrap1, scruple, shred, smidgen, speck, tittle, trifle, whit. Chiefly British: spot. See BIG. 2. A small portion of food: crumb, morsel, mouthful, piece. Informal: bite. See BIG. 3. A usually brief detail of news or information: item, paragraph, piece, squib, story. See WORDS. 4. A rather short period: space, spell3, time, while. See BIG. 5. Informal. A particular kind of activity: Slang: routine. See ACTION.

VI

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun An instrument or means of restraining: brake, bridle, leash, restraint, snaffle. See RESTRAINT.