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Added 9 October 2026

fist

/fɪst/ noun

In Latin: pugnus Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about fist at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward.
The boxer's fists rained down on his opponent in the last round.
Synonym of manicule.
The characteristic signaling rhythm of an individual telegraph or CW operator when sending Morse code.

verb

To strike with the fist.
To close (the hand) into a fist.
To grip with a fist.

verb

To break wind.

noun

The act of breaking wind; fise.
A puffball.

Origin

From Middle English fist, from Old English fȳst (“fist”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūsti (“fist”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to punch; to prick, stab”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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