wit

To wit, a man catcalls her as she walks past and she yells, “I object!”

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

This example of homespun Americana was first performed in 1932 by the Paris Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor, composer, musical wit and historian Nicolas Slonimsky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

"Sir Tom Stoppard gave the British theatre some of its most brilliant and best loved work, and he did it with a wit and a humanity that audiences carried home with them," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

The live-wire wit and idiosyncratic verve that she embodied in “Reds” and “Something’s Gotta Give” are very much on display here.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

“Your wit is keen,” I assured him, raising my hand to silence him.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

But when her real wits and intelligence come into place, it’s unbeatable.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

Nanos warned residents in Guthrie's affluent Catalina Foothills neighbourhood to "keep your wits about you".

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

I am reasonably educated, and at 64, I still have most of my wits.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026

They talk about all of the things that have been left unsaid, buried by their never-ending battle of wits.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026

When I was little she always caught me, but as I got older I got faster, and when speed failed her she’d use her wits.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

The Utes surrender an average of 76 points per game, which is the wost in the conference.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2011

But this week the wost was yet to come.

From Time Magazine Archive

Wast, wost, pa.t. 2d pers. sing. of the verb be.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Lord God Almythti, thou it wost, Fadir sone and holi gost, To thee i menene my mone; For my spouse that was so trewe, Fadir hende brith of newe, Wol wo is me alone.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 91, July 26, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

Ah fool," quoth she, "wost thou not what it is?

From The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems by Purves, D. Laing

And the qey wot adds sparks of raw jalapeño and tomato to chopped lamb.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2021

Let’s talk a little bit about wot the violence interrupters are.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2021

“Wot you ’ave to know about chimney flues,” he was declaring, “is that flues ’as several twists in ’em, cuz they’s attached to uvver flues wot shares one openin’.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2018

I would be devastated if I never got to taste Genet Agonafer’s doro wot again, and I’m not the one laboring in the kitchen for three days on the sauce.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2018

“He’s no slouch at dog-breakin’, that’s wot I say,” one of the men on the wall cried enthusiastically.

From "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London

We Are Young, too, is wistful for an era that was already full of wist.

From The Guardian ● May 29, 2013

To adapt Ko-Ko's celebrated song, he would say:— A boy may wear his hair in curls, or bear a pudding face, Some mothers, as you wist, that folly can't resist!

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, September 2nd, 1893 by Various

My lady Prioressë, by your leave, So that I wist I shouldë you not grieve, I wouldë deemen that ye tellen should A talë next, if so were that ye would.

From Chaucer and His England by Coulton, G. G.

But had I wist, before I kiss'd, That love had been sae ill to win, I'd lock'd my heart in a case of gold,35 And pin'd it with a silver pin.

From English and Scottish Ballads, Volume IV by Various

Spenser writes— "Little wist he his fatall future woe But was secure: the liker he to fall."

From Great Ralegh by Selincourt, Hugh de

An agent is a paid and witting spy; he formally, sometimes covertly, works for a foreign government.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025

“We expect financial institutions will undertake every effort to ensure that they are not witting or unwitting facilitators of circumvention and evasion,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement announcing the order.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2023

And even though she’s the one holding the card, you could be on the hook too as a witting beneficiary of her actions.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2022

A witting asset is a person or entity who knows that there is a foreign power working in their interest.

From Salon ● May 22, 2019

Harold, "not witting," says the chronicler, "how to escape from this pressing danger," promised all the duke asked of him, reckoning, doubt-less, on disregarding his engagement; and for the moment William asked him nothing more.

From A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 1 by Guizot, M. (François)