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| tran·sit [ tránzit ] |
noun (plural tran·sits) |
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| Definition: |
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1. act of travel across something: the act of traveling or being transported through or across an area, over a distance, or from one place to another
  a transit permit
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2. transportation public transportation: the transportation of passengers by means of a local public transportation system
traveled by rapid transit
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3. public transport system: a local public transportation system
city transit
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4. astronomy movement of planet across Sun: the movement of Venus or Mercury across the face of the Sun, or of a moon or its shadow across the face of a planet, as seen from Earth
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5. astronomy passage of star across meridian: the apparent movement of a star or planet across the meridian from which it is being observed, caused by the Earth's rotation
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6. astrology crossing of zodiac by planet: the passing of a planet across a specific point on the zodiac
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7. transition: a transition or passing, e.g. from life to a supposed spiritual existence after death
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8. civil engineering surveying instrument: a surveying instrument surmounted by a telescope that can be rotated completely around its horizontal axis, used for measuring vertical and horizontal angles
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verb (past and past participle tran·sit·ed, present participle tran·sit·ing, 3rd person present singular tran·sits) |
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| Definition: |
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1. transitive and intransitive verb pass through something: to pass through, over, or across something
They transited the area on foot.
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2. transitive and intransitive verb astronomy make astronomical transit: to make a transit across the face of the Sun or a planet, or across a meridian
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3. transitive verb civil engineering reverse direction of surveying telescope: to rotate the telescope of a surveying instrument horizontally through 180°, thus reversing its direction
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| [15th century. < Latin transitus "passage" < transire "go across" < ire "go"] |
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| tran·sit·a·ble adjective |
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in transit in the process of traveling or being transported from one place to another
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