nonhit

English

Etymology

non- +‎ hit

Noun

nonhit (plural nonhits)

1. A song, etc. that fails to become a hit.
   • 2008 June 16, Ben Ratliff, “Pop Veterans Still Pumping Anti-Charisma”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     There was a difference in the decibel level of the crowd roar when the band started up a hit —— “Hey Nineteen,” “Peg,” “Black Friday” ——— as opposed to a nonhit, like “Show Biz Kids” or “Babylon Sisters.”

2. (information technology) Failure to match any record in an information retrieval system.
   • 1992, Beverly K. Duval, Linda Main, Automated library systems:

     Nonhits occur when there is no definite element, such as Library of Congress or ISBN number, in the brief record...

Anagrams

• Hinton, nothin, nothin'