To visit means to go to see a person or place for a period of time, usually with the intention of returning home afterward. When you visit your grandparents, you spend time at their house but don't move in permanently. When your family visits a museum, you go there to look around, learn something, and then leave.

A visit can be short, like stopping by a friend's house for an hour to play, or long, like spending two weeks visiting relatives in another state during summer vacation. The key is that visiting is usually temporary. You might visit a doctor for a checkup, visit a new city on vacation, or have visitors come to your own home.

The word also appears in some special phrases. When something pays a visit to a place, it shows up there, sometimes unexpectedly: “Winter paid an early visit this year.” And when you visit with someone, especially in some parts of America, you're having a friendly conversation with them.

Often, visiting involves movement or making contact. You usually don't say you visit somewhere you already live, and you can't visit someone without actually seeing or communicating with them. The word captures that special quality of going somewhere specifically to spend time, whether you're visiting the library to check out books or visiting an old friend you haven't seen in years.