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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

hit upon en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. To address.
    • He hit upon all major concerns during the presentation.
  2. (idiomatic) To think of; to discover or invent.
    • So next day the hunting began. I did not know how to shoot, but I proceeded to learn. And when I had expended some thirty shells for three seals, I decided that the ammunition would be exhausted before I acquired the necessary knowledge. I had used eight shells for lighting fires before I hit upon the device of banking the embers with wet moss, and there remained not over a hundred shells in the box. 1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:
    • They hit upon the idea of a site that would help users exchange video files. 2006 October 10, Miguel Helft, Matt Richtel, “Venture Firm Shares a YouTube Jackpot”, in New York Times:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
hits upon Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
hitting upon Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
hit upon Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
hit upon Tense=Past lexicographic

Relateds

hit on