suit

 
Pronunciation: /suːt/

noun

  • 1a set of outer clothes made of the same fabric and designed to be worn together, typically consisting of a jacket and trousers or a jacket and skirt: a pinstriped suit
  • a set of clothes to be worn for a particular activity: a jogging suit
  • a complete set of pieces of armour for covering the whole body: a suit of armour
  • informal a high-ranking executive in an organization, typically one regarded as exercising influence in an impersonal way: maybe now the suits in Washington will listen
  • 2any of the sets into which a pack of playing cards is divided (in conventional packs comprising spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs).
  • 3a lawsuit.
  • 4the process of trying to win a woman’s affection with a view to marriage: he could not compete with John in Marian’s eyes and his suit came to nothing
  • literary a petition or entreaty made to a person in authority: he sought a passage to Christian lands, but they spurned his suit
  • 5a complete set of sails required for a ship or for a set of spars: they went ashore and changed to another suit of sails

verb

[with object]
  • 1be convenient for or acceptable to: what time would suit you? [no object]: the flat has two bedrooms—if it suits, you can have one of them
  • (suit oneself) [often in imperative] act entirely according to one’s own wishes (often used to express the speaker’s annoyance): ‘I’m not going to help you.’ ‘Suit yourself.’
  • (suit something to) archaic adapt something to: they took care to suit their answers to the questions put to them
  • 2enhance the features, figure, or character of (someone): the dress didn’t suit her
  • 3 [no object] North American put on clothes, especially for a particular activity: I suited up and entered the water

Phrases

suit the action to the word

carry out one’s stated intentions: he backed away, fearing she might suit the action to the word

suit someone's book

see book

suit someone down to the ground

British be extremely convenient or appropriate for someone: the job would have suited you down to the ground

Origin:

Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French siwte, from a feminine past participle of a Romance verb based on Latin sequi 'follow'. Early senses included 'attendance at a court' and 'legal process'; suit (sense 1 of the noun) and suit (sense 2 of the noun) derive from an earlier meaning 'set of things to be used together'. The verb sense 'make appropriate' dates from the late 16th century