like fits en · ADV
Etymology
As in paroxysms or fits
Meanings
-
(obsolete) in squalls, strongly, in paroxysms
[…] the weather has changed instead of freezing now it is blowing gales and raining like fits.
1907, “Robertsbridge - a Mediaeval Village”, in Diary of Ethel Mercy Burchett – a Robertsbridge Girl, retrieved 26 Jul 2024:It was blowing like fits; if anything had carried away I should have been on shore in a jiffy..
1903, Erskine Childers, chapter VIII, in The Riddle of the Sands, Nelson Library edition, London: T Nelson & Sons, page 98:That night we arrived at a little place called Georgenthal where we got a jolly supper and slept in two most romantically large, rickety, cold and ghostly chambers, with the wind outside blowing like fits and creaking the dismal old sign in the most pleasing manner.
(Can we date this quote?), Henry Adams, Letters Of Henry Adams 1858 1891:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most like fits | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more like fits | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |