fix

• fixe (verb) (archaic)

From Middle English fixen, borrowed from Old French *fixer (attested only as ficher, fichier; > English fitch), from fixe (“fastened; fixed”), from Latin fīxus (“immovable; steady; stable; fixed”), from fīgō (“to drive in; stick; fasten”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to jab; stick; set”). Related to dig.

• enPR: fĭks, IPA^(key): /ˈfɪks/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪks

fix (third-person singular simple present fixes, present participle fixing, simple past and past participle fixt or fixed)

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!"

      • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 111:

        She sniffed, too, comprehendingly, and fixed her son with a relentless eye.

2. (transitive) To attach; to affix; to hold in place or at a particular time.

   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.

   The Constitution fixes the date when Congress must meet.

   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.

   2. (transitive, chess) To prevent enemy pawns from advancing by directly opposing the most advanced one with one of one's own pawns so as to threaten to capture any advancing backward pawns.
3. (transitive) To mend, to repair.

   That heater will start a fire if you don't fix it.

   You can't fix stupid.

4. (transitive, informal) To prepare (food or drink).

   She fixed dinner for the kids.

   • 1945, Marianne Steiff Finton Meisel, Years Before the Flood, page 14:

     She fixed Peter a slice of black bread and jam by cutting the hard crust petalwise around the edge, so the child could tear off convenient pieces.

   • 2013, Iris Smyles, Iris Has Free Time, Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, →ISBN, page 94:

     I fixed us drinks—orange juice with some vodka I'd gotten on sale—and washed a few dishes to get my mind off Jess and the fact of his not texting back.

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 extortion.[1]

   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, semantics) 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.

    • 1878, William de Wiveleslie Abney, A treatise on photography:

      it is well to fix with sodium hyposulphite , and to wash as usual

11. (intransitive) To become fixed; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering; to rest.
    • 1665, Edmund Waller, Upon Her Maiesties New Buildings at Somerset-House:

      Accuſing ſome malignant Star,
      Not Britain, for that fateful War,
      Your kindneſs baniſhes your fear,
      Reſolv’d to fix for ever here.

    • 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:

      A cheerless place! the solitary Bee,
      Whose buzzing was the only sound of life,
      Flew there on restless wing,
      Seeking in vain one blossom, where to fix.

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.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

      quicksilver will fix, so asto endure the hammer

13. (slang, intransitive) To shoot; to inject a drug.
    • 1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books:

      She doesn't have to worry about stool pigeons because every law in the Federal District knows that Lupita sells junk. She keeps outfits in glasses of alcohol so the junkies can fix in the joint and walk out clean.

• (pierce): impale, run through, stick
• (hold in place): join, put together, unite; see also Thesaurus:join
• (mend; repair): patch, put to rights, rectify; see also Thesaurus:repair
• (make a contest unfair): doctor, rig
• (render infertile): neuter, spay, desex, castrate
• (settle or remain permanently): establish, settle down

• (antonym(s) of “to hold in place”): move, change

• → Dutch: fixen, fiksen

fix (plural fixes)

1. A repair or corrective action.

   Hyponyms: bugfix, technofix

   That plumber's fix is much better than the first one's.

   • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

     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. A difficult situation; a quandary or dilemma; a predicament.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:difficult situation

   It rained before we repaired the roof, and were we in a fix!

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 13:

     "How come you're in this fix?"

3. (slang) A single dose of a narcotic drug, especially when injected.
   • 1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books:

     And Cash told me of cases where two hips take a fix together and then one pulls out his badge.

   • 1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books:

     Maybe I will find in yage what I was looking for in junk and weed and coke. Yage may be the final fix.

   • 1992, William Alain Jourgensen (lyrics and music), “Just One Fix”, in Psalm 69, performed by Ministry:

     Just one fix!

4. 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, page 160:

     As the professional thief notes: You can tell by the way the case is handled in court when the fix is in.

5. An understanding, grasp of something.
   • 1981 December 1, Susan Saxe, “Survival with Agony and Art”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 9:

     Each character comes to us with her own particular fix on reality, shaped by a lifetime of experience and by the urgencies of the moment.

6. A determination of location.

   We have a fix on your position.

7. (US) fettlings (mixture used to line a furnace)

• → French: fixe, fix

• fix on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Jonathon Green (2024) “fix n.¹ (outfit)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Jonathon Green (2024) “fix n.² (deal)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Jonathon Green (2024) “fix n.³ (injection)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Jonathon Green (2024) “fix v.³ (to inject)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

From Proto-Tai *wɤjᴬ (“fire”). Cognate with Ahom 𑜇𑜩 (phay),Thai ไฟ (fai), Northern Thai ᨼᩱ (fai), Lao ໄຟ (fai), Lü ᦺᦝ (fay), Tai Dam ꪼꪡ, Shan ၽႆး (phái) or ၾႆး (fái), Tai Nüa ᥜᥭᥰ (fäy), Zhuang feiz, Saek วี๊.

• IPA^(key): /fi˧˩/

fix

1. fire

Borrowed from Latin fixus.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [ˈfiks]
• Rhymes: -iks

fix (feminine fixa, masculine plural fixos, feminine plural fixes)

1. fixed, not changing
2. stationary

• fixar
• telefonia fixa

• “fix” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

• fixa

From fixační tužka.

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɪks]
• Rhymes: -ɪks

fix m inan

1. felt-tip pen, marker

   Synonym: popisovač

• fix in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• fix in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• fix in Internetová jazyková příručka

• Audio

  (file)

fix

1. inflection of fixen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

• IPA^(key): /fiks/
• Homophone: fixe

fix m (plural fix)

1. Alternative spelling of fixe

Borrowed from Latin fīxus. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. The Latin entry claims it derives through a borrowing to Old French.

• IPA^(key): [fɪks]

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: Ficks
• Rhymes: -ɪks

fix (strong nominative masculine singular fixer, comparative fixer, superlative am fixesten)

1. fixed (costs, salary)

   Synonym: fest

   Zu den fixen Kosten zählen Gehälter und Mieten. ― Fixed costs include salaries and rental fees.

2. fixed, constant, stationary

   Synonyms: feststehend, konstant, unverändert

   Dieser Berg ist ein fixer Punkt in der Landschaft. ― This mountain is a fixed point in the landscape.

3. (Austria) fixed, permanent

   Synonyms: dauernd, fest, ständig

   Voraussetzung für eine fixe Anstellung ist ein fixer Wohnort. ― A fixed residence is a requirement for permanent employment.

4. (Austria) definitely (non-gradable)

   Synonyms: definitiv, endgültig, sicher

   Wir treffen ihn fix am nächsten Wochenende. ― We will definitely meet him next weekend.

5. (colloquial) quick

   Synonyms: geschwind, flink, schnell

   Der Schaden wurde fix behoben ― The damage has been repaired quickly.

6. (colloquial) agile, nimble, skilled, smart

   Synonyms: geschickt, wendig, flink

   Sie ist ein fixes Mädel. ― She is a skilled girl.

• → Hungarian: fix
• → Swedish: fix
  • → Finnish: fiksu

• fix und fertig

From German fix, from French fixe, from Latin figere, fixus.[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈfiks]
• Rhymes: -iks

fix (not comparable)

1. fixed, steady

   Synonyms: rögzített, megszabott

   fix fizetés ― steady salary

2. immovable

   Synonym: szilárd

3. sure, certain

   Synonyms: biztos, bizonyos

   Az fix! ― You bet!

(Compound words):

• fixpont

(Expressions):

• fix objektív

fix

1. a steady salary

   Havi százezer forint fixe van. ― He has a monthly salary of 100,000 Ft.

• fils, fis, fiz

fix m

1. inflection of fil:
   1. oblique plural
   2. nominative singular

Borrowed from French fixe, from Latin fixus.

fix m or n (feminine singular fixă, masculine plural ficși, feminine and neuter plural fixe)

1. fixed

• Homophone: ficks

fix

1. fixed, inflexible, rigid

   en fix idé

   a fixed idea

• fix idé
• fixstjärna

fix c

1. a fix, a dose of an addictive drug