HABIT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does habit mean? 

• HABIT (noun)
  The noun HABIT has 6 senses:

1. an established custom

2. (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition

3. a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order

4. the general form or mode of growth (especially of a plant or crystal)

5. attire that is typically worn by a horseback rider (especially a woman's attire)

6. excessive use of drugs

  Familiarity information: HABIT used as a noun is common.

• HABIT (verb)
  The verb HABIT has 1 sense:

1. put a habit on

  Familiarity information: HABIT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HABIT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An established custom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

habit; wont

Context example:

it was their habit to dine at 7 every evening

Hypernyms ("habit" is a kind of...):

custom; tradition (a specific practice of long standing)

Derivation:

habituate (take or consume (regularly or habitually))

Sense 2

Meaning:

(psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

habit; use

Context example:

long use had hardened him to it

Hypernyms ("habit" is a kind of...):

custom; usage; usance (accepted or habitual practice)

Domain category:

psychological science; psychology (the science of mental life)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "habit"):

ritual (stereotyped behavior)

second nature (acquired behavior that is practiced so long it seems innate)

cleanliness (the habit of keeping free of superficial imperfections)

Derivation:

habitual (commonly used or practiced; usual)

habituate (take or consume (regularly or habitually))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("habit" is a kind of...):

attire; dress; garb (clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion)

Domain category:

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "habit"):

frock (a habit worn by clerics)

monastic habit (a long loose habit worn by monks in a monastery)

nun's habit (a long loose habit worn by nuns in a convent)

Derivation:

habit (put a habit on)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The general form or mode of growth (especially of a plant or crystal)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Context example:

a shrub of spreading habit

Hypernyms ("habit" is a kind of...):

development; growing; growth; maturation; ontogenesis; ontogeny ((biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Attire that is typically worn by a horseback rider (especially a woman's attire)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

habit; riding habit

Hypernyms ("habit" is a kind of...):

attire; dress; garb (clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion)

Meronyms (parts of "habit"):

jodhpur breeches; jodhpurs; riding breeches ((used in the plural) flared trousers ending at the calves; worn with riding boots)

riding boot (a boot without laces that is worn for riding horses; part of a riding habit)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Excessive use of drugs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drug abuse; habit; substance abuse

Hypernyms ("habit" is a kind of...):

abuse; misuse (improper or excessive use)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "habit"):

alcohol abuse; alcoholic abuse; alcoholism abuse (excessive use of alcohol and alcoholic drinks)

Derivation:

habituate (make psychologically or physically used (to something))

• HABIT (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put a habit on

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "habit" is one way to...):

apparel; clothe; dress; enclothe; fit out; garb; garment; habilitate; raiment; tog (provide with clothes or put clothes on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

habit (a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order)

 Context examples 

And this was due, I believe, first, to habit; and second, to the fact that they were less sensitively organized.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Thus, in a difficulty he has to seek resource in habit.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There can be no doubt that this fellow must have known the house and its habits.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He has been in the habit of lighting his pipe at lamps and gas-jets.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Fiend! she wants to know my habits, that she may lay her plans accordingly!"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Such varieties of human nature as they are in the habit of witnessing!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I took heart, however, as I recalled a conversation between Challenger and Summerlee upon the habits of the great saurians.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

White Fang had observed closely the chicken-yards and the habits of the chickens.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Being given to low company, she was very much in the habit of talking to them on the beach, Miss Dartle, and sitting by their boats.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)