• Fix

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -ɪks

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Old French fixer, from fixe, from Latin fixus.

    Full definition of fix

    Noun

    fix

    (plural fixes)
    1. A repair or corrective action.
      • 2013-06-28, Joris Luyendijk, Our banks are out of control, Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic .  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become.   But the scandals kept coming, . A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
    2. That plumber's fix is much better than the first one's.
    3. A difficult situation; a quandary or dilemma.
      It rained before we repaired the roof, and were we in a fix!
    4. (informal) A single dose of an addictive drug administered to a drug user.
    5. A prearrangement of the outcome of a supposedly competitive process, such as a sporting event, a game, an election, a trial, or a bid.
      • 1963, Howard Saul Becker, Outsiders: studies in the sociology of deviance‎, As the professional thief notes: You can tell by the way the case is handled in court when the fix is in.
    6. A determination of location.
      We have a fix on your position.
    7. (US) fettlings (mixture used to line a furnace)

    Synonyms

    Verb

    1. (transitive, obsolete) To pierce; now generally replaced by transfix.
      1. (transitive, by extension) (Of a piercing look) to direct at someone.He fixed me with a sickly grin, and said, "I told you it wouldn't work!"
    2. (transitive) To attach; to affix; to hold in place.A dab of chewing gum will fix your note to the bulletin board.A leech can fix itself to your skin without you feeling it.
      1. (transitive, figuratively, usually in the passive) To focus or determine (oneself, on a concept); to fixate.She's fixed on the idea of becoming a doctor.
    3. (transitive) To mend, to repair.That heater will start a fire if you don't fix it.
    4. (transitive, informal) To prepare (food).She fixed dinner for the kids.
    5. (transitive) To make (a contest, vote, or gamble) unfair; to privilege one contestant or a particular group of contestants, usually before the contest begins; to arrange immunity for defendants by tampering with the justice system via bribery or extortionSutherland, Edwin H. (ed) (1937): The Professional Thief: by a Professional Thief. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. by various publishers in subsequent decades.A majority of voters believed the election was fixed in favor of the incumbent.
    6. (transitive, US, informal) To surgically render an animal, especially a pet, infertile.Rover stopped digging under the fence after we had the vet fix him.
    7. (transitive, mathematics, sematics) To map a (point or subset) to itself.
    8. (transitive, informal) To take revenge on, to best; to serve justice on an assumed miscreant.He got caught breaking into lockers, so a couple of guys fixed him after work.
    9. (transitive) To render (a photographic impression) permanent by treating with such applications as will make it insensitive to the action of light.
    10. (transitive, chemistry, biology) To convert into a stable or available form.Legumes are valued in crop rotation for their ability to fix nitrogen.
    11. (intransitive) To become fixed; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering; to rest.
      • unknown date WallerYour kindness banishes your fear,
        Resolved to fix forever here.
    12. (intransitive) To become firm, so as to resist volatilization; to cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable, as a metallic substance.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

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