hit point

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hit point (plural hit points)

1. (chiefly role-playing games) A unit of damage, used to specify the amount of damage a character can withstand before it is defeated.
   • 1984, InCider: The Apple II Magazine, volume 2, Peterborough, N.H.: IDG Communications, ISSN 0740-0101, OCLC 925068647, page 60:

     You can bestow keys, gems, torches and powders, and restore gold, food and hit points. Hit points and experience points can be increased to a maximum of 9999, although you'd better be careful.

   • 1986, MicroTimes: California's Computer Magazine, volume 3, Oakland, Calif.: BAM Publications, OCLC 18528655, page 86:

     All characters have "hit points" that increase as they traverse the dungeon performing their brave deeds (unless they're smitten by some monster).

   • 2005, Bill Slavicsek; Richard Baker, “Playing the Game”, in Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, page 78:

     Damage reduces the monster's hit points; if the monster's hit points drop to 0, it's defeated.

2. (computer graphics) In ray tracing, the point in a scene at which a ray strikes an object.
   • 1991, Michael John Muuss; Lee A. Butler, “Combinatorial Solid Geometry, Boundary Representations, and n-Manifold Geometry”, in David F. Rogers and Rae A. Earnshaw, editors, State of the Art in Computer Graphics: Visualization and Modeling, New York, N.Y.: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 213:

     The in/out status for the hit point is determined by examining the loop which has the subelement (edge or vertex) closest to the hit point.

• HP
• health point
• life point

• Health (game mechanic) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia