sit-in

[sit-in] /ˈsɪtˌɪn/
noun
1.
an organized passive protest, especially against racial segregation, in which the demonstrators occupy seats prohibited to them, as in restaurants and other public places.
2.
any organized protest in which a group of people peacefully occupy and refuse to leave a premises:
Sixty students staged a sit-in outside the dean's office.
3.
sit-down strike.
Origin
1955-60; noun use of verb phrase sit in (a place); cf. -in
British Dictionary definitions for sit-in

sit-in

noun
1.
a form of civil disobedience in which demonstrators occupy seats in a public place and refuse to move as a protest
2.
another term for sit-down strike
verb (intransitive, adverb)
3.
(often foll by for) to deputize (for)
4.
(foll by on) to take part (in) as a visitor or guest: we sat in on Professor Johnson's seminar
5.
to organize or take part in a sit-in
Word Origin and History for sit-in

1936, in reference to session musicians; 1937, in reference to union action; 1941, in reference to student protests. From the verbal phrase; see sit (v.) + in (adv.). To sit in is attested from 1868 in the sense "attend, be present;" from 1919 specifically as "attend as an observer."

Slang definitions & phrases for sit-in

sit-in

noun

An illegal occupation of a place in order to make a political or philosophical statement

[1960s+; the term was popularized during the movement for black civil rights and has many offspring: be-in, love-in, puke-in, etc]


Encyclopedia Article for sit-in

a tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience. The demonstrators enter a business or a public place and remain seated until forcibly evicted or until their grievances are answered. Attempts to terminate the essentially passive sit-in often appear brutal, thus arousing sympathy for the demonstrators among moderates and noninvolved individuals. Following Mahatma Gandhi's teaching, Indians employed the sit-in to great advantage during their struggle for independence from the British. Later, the sit-in was adopted as a major tactic in the civil-rights struggle of American blacks; the first prominent sit-in occurred at a Greensboro (North Carolina) lunch counter in 1960. Student activists adopted the tactic later in the decade in demonstrations against the Vietnam War.

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