Pit definition
An abyss.
noun
Hell.
noun
A hole or cavity in the ground.
noun
To set in competition (against)
verb
A miserable or depressing place or situation.
noun
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To bring (something) into opposition with something else.
Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?
verb
(football) The middle areas of the defensive and offensive lines.
noun
The section, often below floor level, in front of the stage, where the orchestra sits.
noun
To pit is defined as to set in competition against someone or something.
An example of to pit is to turn someone against her best friend.
verb
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An enclosed, usually sunken area in which animals, such as dogs or gamecocks, are placed for fighting.
noun
An excavation for the removal of mineral deposits; a mine.
noun
The shaft of a mine.
noun
A natural hollow or depression in the body or an organ.
noun
A small indented scar left in the skin by smallpox or other eruptive disease; a pockmark.
noun
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(zoology) Either of a pair of depressions between the nostril and the eye of a pit viper that contain heat-sensing organs.
noun
(botany) A cavity in the wall of a plant cell where there is no secondary wall, as in fibers, tracheids, and vessel elements.
noun
(informal) An armpit.
noun
The section directly in front of and below the stage of a theater, in which the musicians sit.
noun
(chiefly british) The ground floor of a theater behind the stalls.
noun
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The section of an exchange where trading in a specific commodity is carried on.
noun
The gambling area of a casino.
noun
A sunken area in a garage floor from which mechanics may work on cars.
noun
(sports) An area beside an auto racecourse where cars may be refueled or serviced during a race.
Pulled into the pits to have the tires rotated.
noun
Hell. Used with the.
noun
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(slang) The worst. Used with the .
noun
To mark with cavities, depressions, or scars.
A surface pitted with craters.
verb
To place, bury, or store in a pit.
verb
To become marked with pits.
verb
To retain an impression after being indented. Used of the skin.
verb
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To stop at a refueling area during an auto race.
verb
The single central kernel or stone of certain fruits, such as a peach or cherry.
noun
To extract the pit from (a fruit).
verb
The hard stone, as of the plum, peach, or cherry, which contains the seed.
noun
To remove the pit from (a fruit)
verb
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A covered hole used to trap wild animals; pitfall.
noun
Any concealed danger; trap; snare.
noun
An enclosed area in which animals are kept or made to fight.
A bear pit.
noun
A hollow or depression on a part of the human body.
Armpit.
noun
A small hollow in a surface; specif., a depressed scar on the skin, as that resulting from smallpox.
noun
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An area below floor level or ground level.
noun
The part of the floor of an exchange where a special branch of business is transacted.
Corn pit.
noun
In a casino, an area in which gambling tables are set up, specif., the area within a ring of such tables.
noun
(bot.) A tiny depression in a plant cell wall.
noun
The shaft of a coal mine.
noun
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The coal mine itself.
noun
The ground floor of a theater, esp. the part at the rear.
noun
The spectators in that section.
noun
A work area for mechanics, often below floor level, for repairing and servicing automotive vehicles.
noun
The area along the side of a track where racing cars make their pit stops.
noun
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To put, cast, or store in a pit.
verb
To make pits in.
verb
To mark with small scars.
Pitted by smallpox.
verb
To set (cocks, etc.) in a pit to fight.
verb
To become marked with pits.
verb
To make a pit stop during an auto race.
verb
A natural hollow or depression in the body or an organ.
noun
A small indented scar left in the skin by smallpox or other eruptive disease; a pockmark.
noun
A sharp-pointed depression in the enamel surface of a tooth, caused by faulty or incomplete calcification or formed by the confluent point of two or more lobes of enamel.
noun
To mark with cavities, depressions, or scars.
verb
To retain an impression after being indented. Used of the skin.
verb
The hard, inner layer (the endocarp) of certain drupes that are valued for their flesh, such as peaches, cherries, or olives. Not in scientific use.
The location of trading activity on futures or options exchanges that use open-outcry trading, a system in which traders shout out the prices they are willing to buy or sell contracts at. Around the pits are ascending steps, called rings, where support staff for traders stand.
(music) A section of the marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to march, such as the tam tam. Also, the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.
noun
(archaeology) A hole or trench in the ground, excavated according to grid coordinates, so that the provenance of any feature observed and any specimen or artifact revealed may be established by precise measurement.
noun
(trading) A trading pit.
noun
(in the plural, with the, idiomatic, slang) Something particularly unpleasant.
His circus job was the pits, but at least he was in show business.
noun
(aviation) A luggage hold.
noun
An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.
noun
Formerly, that part of a theatre, on the floor of the house, below the level of the stage and behind the orchestra; now, in England, commonly the part behind the stalls; in the United States, the parquet; also, the occupants of such a part of a theatre.
noun
To make pits in.
Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal.
verb
To put (a dog) into a pit for fighting.
verb
(intransitive, motor racing) To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.
verb
To remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.
One must pit a peach to make it ready for a pie.
verb
Precision Immobilization Technique.
noun
Pursuit Intervention Technique.
noun
Parallel Immobilization Technique.
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".
noun
(computing) Programmable interval timer.
noun
The definition of a pit is a hole in the ground, or the hard stone in a fruit that contains the seed.
An example of a pit is a deep hole in the mud.
An example of a pit is the hard core of a peach.
noun
A natural or artificial hole or cavity in the ground.
noun
A concealed hole in the ground used as a trap; a pitfall.
noun
A small indentation in a surface.
Pits in a windshield.
noun
To set in direct opposition or competition.
A war that pitted brother against brother.
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
pit
Plural:
pitsIdioms 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 *pewǝ- (“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 *piþō. Compare pith.
From Wiktionary