Fitting vs. Fixing — What's the Difference?

Being in keeping with a situation; appropriate.

To correct or set right; adjust

The act of trying on clothes whose fit is being adjusted.

To restore to proper condition or working order; repair

A small detachable part for a machine or apparatus.

To make ready for a specific purpose, as by altering or combining elements; prepare

Fittings Chiefly British Furnishings or fixtures.

To spay or castrate (an animal).

Present participle of fit

To influence the outcome or actions of (something) by improper or unlawful means

Getting ready; preparing.

(Informal) To take revenge upon (someone); get even with.

Ready, appropriate, suitable, or in keeping

To place securely; make stable or firm

A small part, especially a standardized or detachable part of a device or machine.

To secure to another; attach

(engineering) A tube connector; a standardized connecting part of a piping system to attach sections of pipe together, such as a coupling

To put into a stable or unalterable form

The act of trying on clothes to inspect or adjust the fit.

To make (a chemical substance) nonvolatile or solid.

(manufacturing) The process of fitting up; especially of applying craft methods such as skilled filing to the making and assembling of machines or other products.

(Biology) To convert (nitrogen or carbon) into stable, biologically assimilable compounds.

A removable item in a house or other building, which can be taken with one when one moves out, such as a moveable piece of furniture, a carpet, picture, etc.; US furnishing; compare fixture.

To kill and preserve (a specimen) intact for microscopic study.

(uncountable) The action or condition of having fits in the sense of seizures or convulsions.

To prevent discoloration of (a photographic image) by washing or coating with a chemical preservative.

Anything used in fitting up

To direct steadily

Fit; appropriate; suitable; proper.

To capture or hold

Making or becoming suitable; adjusting to circumstances

To set or place definitely; establish

A small and often standardized accessory to a larger system

To determine with accuracy; ascertain

(usually plural) furnishings and equipment (especially for a ship or hotel)

To agree on; arrange

Trying on clothes to see whether they fit

To assign; attribute

In harmony with the spirit of particular persons or occasion;

(Computers) To convert (data) from floating-point notation to fixed-point notation.

Being precisely fitting and right;

To direct one's efforts or attention; concentrate

To become stable or firm; harden

Chiefly Southern US To be on the verge of; to be making preparations for. Used in progressive tenses with the infinitive

The act of adjusting, correcting, or repairing.

(Informal) Something that repairs or restores; a solution

The position, as of a ship or aircraft, determined by visual observations with the aid of equipment.

A clear determination or understanding

An instance of arranging a special consideration, such as an exemption from a requirement, or an improper or illegal outcome, especially by means of bribery.

A difficult or embarrassing situation; a predicament

(Slang) An amount or dose of something craved, especially an intravenous injection of a narcotic.

The act of subverting (fixing) a vote.

Something to aid attachment during construction screws, wall plugs, etc

See fixings.

Present participle of fix

Going; preparing; ready. fixing to.

The act or process of making fixed.

That which is fixed; a fixture.

Arrangements; embellishments; trimmings; accompaniments.

The act of putting something in working order again

Restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place

The sterilization of an animal;

(histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had in the living body