1. [common] To copy a large array of bits from one part of a
computer's memory to another part, particularly when the memory is being
used to determine what is shown on a display screen. The storage
allocator picks through the table and copies the good parts up into high
memory, and then blits it all back down again.
See
bitblt, BLT,
dd, cat,
blast, snarf. More
generally, to perform some operation (such as toggling) on a large array of
bits while moving them.
2. [historical, rare] Sometimes all-capitalized as BLIT: an early experimental bit-mapped terminal
designed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs, later commercialized as the AT&T
5620. (The folk etymology from Bell Labs Intelligent
Terminal
is incorrect. Its creators liked to claim that
Blit
stood for the Bacon, Lettuce, and Interactive
Tomato.)