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say it: HAB-uht
habit is a noun and verb meaning "an established custom". It carries 7 recorded senses.
(psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition
“owls have nocturnal habits”
“she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair”
“long use had hardened him to it”
psychology
a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order
religion
the general form or mode of growth (especially of a plant or crystal)
“a shrub of spreading habit”
attire that is typically worn by a horseback rider (especially a woman's attire)
excessive use of drugs
put a habit on
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for habit come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.