1The carrying of people, goods, or materials from one place to another.

1. 1.1North American The conveyance of passengers on public transportation.
   ‘So what precisely would be the difference between a search conducted to protect a library collection and a search to protect myself and my fellow passengers in the public transit system?’
   More example sentences

   • ‘He also wants to ease the region's transportation problems by increasing lanes and improving public transit.’
   • ‘In fact I would say foot travel and public transit would be the main ‘losers’ to cycles as it would mainly be relatively short haul trippers who would be impacted.’
   • ‘Traffic congestion and inadequate public transit make this the most polluted metro area in the country.’
   • ‘Experts say that to be successful, public transit must be convenient and inexpensive, making it difficult to impose the types of strict security seen at airports.’
   • ‘Now it's home to a dense, multipurpose, taxpaying business well-served by public transit, which is supposedly what New Urbanists want.’
   • ‘In the sixties, the blue-collar jobs that supported previous generations of urban blacks moved out of town, beyond the reach of public transit.’
   • ‘And most importantly, we always felt safe and comfortable, and we were out sometimes in public transit until close to midnight.’
   • ‘Public transit does not function in this kind of contrived environment.’
   • ‘The chief argument for public transit is that it's necessary for those who can't afford cars.’
   • ‘I am really looking forward to returning this car to my folks and getting back on public transit.’
   • ‘No strategies have been implemented by the municipal government to discourage auto transport and promote public transit.’
   • ‘They may have to provide services such as public transit and education incentives to lure workers to service jobs that an aging population will not be able to fill itself.’
   • ‘One gentleman is so dedicated to locating obscure dispensers that he actually uses city transit to visit remote suburban garage sales.’
   • ‘And finally, since we are encouraging you to walk or take transit when possible, think about pedestrians.’
   • ‘You know, there's so much air time spent in this city on admonishing people to get out of their cars and take transit, cycle or walk.’
   • ‘That's the only way a community can be created where people either take transit to work or walk to work.’
   • ‘Trucking, airline, and public transit workers also participated in the strike.’
   • ‘In San Francisco, far more people ride transit, walk or bike to work than drive.’
   • ‘We try not to contribute by walking or taking public transit.’

2An act of passing through or across a place.

1. 2.1Astronomy The passage of an inferior planet across the face of the sun, or of a moon or its shadow across the face of a planet.
   ‘the transits of Mercury across the sun's disc’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Besides a couple of eclipses slated for May, sky watchers would witness transits of two planets over the disk of the Sun.’
   • ‘Over a mere five occurrences these transits of Venus had shifted from events of astronomical importance to a sideshow with mere curiosity value.’
   • ‘The transits of the Planet of Love happen in pairs, eight years apart every century.’
   • ‘Certainly this would make sense since Theon was both an observer and a mathematician who had written on astronomical topics such as conjunctions, eclipses, occultations and transits.’
   • ‘Transits of Mercury are more common than transits of Venus, and occur every three to thirteen years.’
   • ‘In particular he was involved with timing the transits of Venus, a subject we discuss in Chapter 13.’
   • ‘The next major figure in the history of transits of Venus was Edmond Halley, of comet fame.’
   • ‘In the nineteenth century, rare transits of Venus across the surface of the Sun were used to prove that Venus was enveloped in an atmosphere.’
   • ‘Many Archetypal Astrologers feel that all major cosmic events, such as eclipses and transits, are actually interactive in the most personal sense.’
   • ‘Only two planets can undergo transits of the Sun: Mercury and Venus.’
   • ‘The first to been seen was in 1639, and the time between transits was later predicted by Edmond Halley (the guy with the comet).’
   • ‘None of the astronomers who witnessed the past five transits of Venus are alive today, but they surely reflected on the rarity of what they saw - a reminder of the brevity of human life.’
   • ‘Six Venus transits have occurred since the invention of the telescope, in 1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882.’
   • ‘The story of the transits of Venus begins in 1627, just three years before the death of the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.’
   • ‘Unfortunately because the orbit of Venus is inclined to the earth's orbit by about three and a half degrees, these transits of Venus don't take place very often.’
   • ‘The early transits were actually momentous occasions in the world of astronomy.’
   • ‘The circumstances of the transits of Venus repeat themselves with great exactness after a period of 243 years.’
   • ‘In fact, Venus transits are rare and the last such event happened in 1882.’
   • ‘He proposed using transits of Mercury to determine the distance of the Sun and therefore the scale of the solar system using Kepler's third law.’
   • ‘Anyone who missed it this time will have another chance in eight years time - if they are willing to travel to Australia where another transit of Venus will be visible.’
2. 2.2Astronomy The apparent passage of a celestial body across the meridian of a place.
3. 2.3Astrology The passage of a celestial body through a specified sign, house, or area of a chart.
   ‘By the classical era the Sun's transit through the zodiac sign had taken precedence and Virgo became more directly perceived as a Maiden of fruition through the Harvest.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘It seems to me like the awful transit of Saturn through Cancer brings much trouble in areas like the home, family, terminal periods of life, health and care, real estate - you know it well.’
   • ‘In the same period transit Saturn in Taurus was making two passes over natal Pluto.’
   • ‘All of my Gemini friends have had some unpleasant experiences with this last transit of Saturn through Gemini.’
   • ‘When this aspect is active by transit, you may be easily irritated and argue at the slightest provocation.’
   • ‘This celestial transit will make you feel highly critical of an ongoing situation in your life.’

3

1Pass across or through (an area)

1. 1.1Astronomy (of a planet or other celestial body) pass across (a meridian or the face of another body)
   ‘at the end of February Jupiter transits the meridian’
   More example sentences

   • ‘When the planet transits the star, it blocks a small amount of the star's light; it's essentially a miniature solar eclipse.’
   • ‘People won't really see a planet transiting the Sun.’
   • ‘Mercury and Venus are the only planets that orbit closer to the Sun than the Earth, so they are the only planets that can transit the Sun.’
   • ‘During this event, Venus shall transit the face of the sun for about five hours.’
   • ‘More than 200 astronomy enthusiasts gathered at a Ribble Valley observatory for a rare sighting of the planet Mercury transiting the sun.’
   • ‘However, eclipse effects are not usually felt until there is some sort of trigger - a planet transiting over the point, for instance.’
2. 1.2Astrology (of a celestial body) pass across (a specified sign, house, or area of a chart).
   ‘When Saturn transits the sign of karka or cancer and again when it crosses scorpio or vrischik, the individual will experience the panoti or adhayia of Saturn.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Saturn transits each sign in about 29.5 months and crosses three signs in about 7 and a half years, hence the reference to sadesati.’
   • ‘Of course, there's a saying that when Jupiter transits three signs in a year, there will be lots of floods - and aren't we having that!’
   • ‘Mars is transiting his natal chart in Pisces, the sign of deception, and also in the 11 th house, the house of friends.’
   • ‘With Pluto transiting my 4th house, I can see that a phase of my life has come to a close, but I feel quite paralysed and can't see what changes to make.’