whit

care a whit

To care just the smallest amount. (A "whit" is an iota.) Often used in the negative. I don't care a whit what the neighbors say, I'm not taking that fence down!

See also: care, whit

not one whit

old-fashioned Not at all or in any way. We are not concerned about the investigation—not one whit. We have nothing to hide. A: "Do you mind if I tag along this afternoon?" B: "Not one whit!"

See also: not, one, whit

not a whit

old-fashioned Not at all or in any way. We are not concerned about the investigation—not a whit. We have nothing to hide. A: "Do you mind if I tag along this afternoon?" B: "Not a whit!"

See also: not, whit

never a whit

old-fashioned Not at all or in any way. Sinful thought, though less condemnable than action, is never a whit less morally repugnant.

See also: never, whit

to wit

That is; more precisely; namely. Often used in technical or formal writing. The officer testified to having found several grams of a Class B narcotic, to wit, cocaine, on the defendant's person at the time of arrest. The plot is absolutely absurd, such as it is—to wit, an axe-wielding murderer teams up with a cyborg cop to stop an alien invasion.

See also: wit

didn't care a whit

 and don't care a whit

didn't care at all. Sally thought Joe liked her, but he didn't care a whit about her. I don't care a whit what you do with my old clothes.

See also: care, whit

to wit

namely; that is; that is to say. The criminal was punished; to wit, he received a 20-year sentence. Many students, to wit Mary, Bill, Sue, and Anne, complained about their teacher.

See also: wit

to wit

That is to say, namely, as in There are three good reasons for not going, to wit, we don't want to, we don't have to, and we can't get a reservation . This expression comes from the now archaic verb to wit, meaning "know or be aware of," not heard except in this usage. [Late 1500s]

See also: wit

not a/one ˈwhit

(old-fashioned) not at all; not the smallest amount: The party leaders care not a whit about the principles of democracy and freedom.

See also: not, one, whit

to ˈwit

(old-fashioned, formal) used when you are about to be more exact about something you have just referred to: I told him I only spoke one foreign language, to wit French.

See also: wit

to wit

That is to say; namely.

See also: wit

to wit

Namely, that is to say. This expression comes from the sixteenth-century archaic verb to wit, meaning to know or be aware of. The current usage has long been a cliché. It often appears before a list of some kind, as in, “His whole family plans to attend, to wit, his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.”

See also: wit