sit-in

[ sit-in ]
/ ˈsɪtˌɪn /

noun

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.
an organized passive protest, especially against racial segregation, in which the demonstrators occupy seats prohibited to them, as in restaurants and other public places.

Origin of sit-in

1955–60; noun use of verb phrase sit in (a place); cf. sit1, -in3

Example sentences from the Web for sit-ins

British Dictionary definitions for sit-ins

sit-in

noun

a form of civil disobedience in which demonstrators occupy seats in a public place and refuse to move as a protest
another term for sit-down strike

verb sit in (intr, adverb)

(often foll by for) to deputize (for)
(foll by on) to take part (in) as a visitor or guest we sat in on Professor Johnson's seminar
to organize or take part in a sit-in

Cultural definitions for sit-ins

sit-ins

A form of nonviolent protest, employed during the 1960s in the civil rights movement and later in the movement against the Vietnam War. In a sit-in, demonstrators occupy a place open to the public, such as a racially segregated (see segregation) lunch counter or bus station, and then refuse to leave. Sit-ins were designed to provoke arrest and thereby gain attention for the demonstrators' cause.

notes for sit-ins

The civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., defended such tactics as sit-ins in his “ Letter from Birmingham Jail.”