sitter

name

1. A surname.
2. A river in north-east Switzerland, a tributary of the Thur.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English sitter, sittere, syttare, equivalent to sit + -er.

1. Someone who sits, e.g. for a portrait.

   “The photograph caused a stir last week because it was shortlisted for the National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious Taylor Wessing prize, despite the rule that “all photographs must have been taken by the entrant from life and with a living sitter”. However realistic Erica may be, and to me she looks more like a sex doll than a real person, she was certainly not a living sitter.”

2. One employed to watch or tend something; a babysitter, housesitter, petsitter, etc.

   “It's always such a pain to get a sitter on short notice.”

   “Those domestic worries came through in pop-culture depictions of the sitter. In the midst of the 1960s sexual revolution, she was often portrayed as a temptress, seducing fathers when mom was away; in the ’70s, she started showing up in horror movies, trapped with a killer in the house and kids to protect[…]”

3. A sitting room.
4. A participant in a séance who is not a medium.

   “"The sitters had better just take their own places," said the medium.”

5. A broody hen.
6. A very easy scoring chance.

   “How could he miss that? It was an absolute sitter!”

   “Aaron Ramsey, a hero last season against Hull, missed a sitter at the end of normal time that would have made the game safe and must have been relieved that his shot against a post from four yards out did not cost his side more dearly.”

7. Someone who accompanies a person who is taking a psychedelic drug, to provide reassurance in case of a bad trip.