Pit meaning
An example of a pit is a deep hole in the mud.
An example of a pit is the hard core of a peach.
A surface pitted with craters.
A bear pit.
Armpit.
Corn pit.
Pitted by smallpox.
His circus job was the pits, but at least he was in show business.
Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal.
Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?
One must pit a peach to make it ready for a pie.
All three terms mean the same thing, a bumping technique used by U.S. police departments during car pursuits to force the pursued vehicle to abruptly turn sideways to the direction of travel, causing the driver to lose control and stop. Usually used in the phrase "PIT maneuver".
An example of to pit is to turn someone against her best friend.
Pits in a windshield.
A war that pitted brother against brother.
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of pit
- Middle English from Old English pytt ultimately from Latin puteus well pau-2 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Dutch from Middle Dutch
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English, from Old English pytt (“pit, hole in the ground, well, grave, pustule, pockmark"), from Proto-Germanic *putjaz (“pit, well"), from Latin puteus (“trench, pit, well"), from Proto-Indo-European *pewÇ- (“to beat, hew"). Cognate with West Frisian pet (“pit"), Eastern Frisian put (“pit"), Dutch put (“well, pockmark"), German Pfütze (“puddle, pool"), Danish pyt (“pit"), Icelandic pytt (“pit").
From Wiktionary
- From Dutch pit (“kernel, core"), from Middle Dutch pitte, from Proto-Germanic *pittan (compare Middle Franconian Pfitze (“pimple")), oblique of *piþÅ. Compare pith.
From Wiktionary