pit

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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

pit^¹

/pɪt/ US, UK
[pʰɪʔt] US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English pit, pet, püt, from Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, from Latin puteus (“trench, pit, well”), although there are phonetic difficulties.

noun pits

A hole in the ground. The meadow around the town is full of old pits.
An area at a racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a race. Two drivers have already gone into the pit this early in the race.
The section of a marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to be marched, such as the tam-tam; the front ensemble. Can also refer to the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.
A mine.
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. The exact sites of Feng and Hao have yet to be verified, but seven pits containing chariots, horses and other Zhou burial objects were discovered at Fengxi, and a concentration of Western Zhou relics and tombs was found in the area of Doumen in Changan County on the east bank of the Feng River.
A trading pit.
colloquial An armpit.
A luggage hold.
countable A small surface hole or depression, a fossa. [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].
The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.
The grave, underworld or Hell. Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained.
An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats. as fiercely as two game-cocks in the pit
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.
Part of a casino which typically holds tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and other games.
in plural, slang, with the Only used in the pits. His circus job was the pits, but at least he was in show business.
slang A mosh pit. Because the museum was closed for renovation, the school decided to bring its fourth-graders to the pit at a Cannibal Corpse gig instead.
The center of the line. The ball carrier can be with or without a football. For the “Head-On” tackle have the “Ball Carrier” stand right in front of the pit and face the tackler.
slang The emergency department of a hospital.
In tracheary elements, a section of the cell wall where the secondary wall is missing, and the primary wall is present. Pits generally occur in pairs and link two cells.
slang A bed. Many Bacardi & Cokes later I climbed up into my pit and fell into a deep sleep, and woke up at one thirty in the morning and threw up my tea.
informal An undesirable location, especially an unclean one. This house is a total pit. We've got to do some cleaning!
figuratively A bleak, depressing state of mind. He was in a pit of despair.
abbreviation Short for dish pit Get back to the pit, dish bitch!
On a compact disc or similar recording medium, a tiny sunken area representing part of the encoded data.
Opposite: land

verb pits · pitting · pitted

transitive To make pits in; to mark with little hollows. Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal.
transitive To put (an animal) into a pit for fighting.
transitive To bring (something) into opposition with something else. Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?
intransitive To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc. Bottas had to pit earlier than expected for fresh tyres. Hamilton followed him in next time around and the two drivers were instructed to stay off the kerbs to protect their tyres.

pit^²

/pɪt/ US, UK
[pʰɪʔt] US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪt

Where it comes from

From Dutch pit (“kernel, core”), from Middle Dutch pitte, from Proto-Germanic *pittan (compare dialectal German Pfitze (“pimple”)), oblique of Proto-Germanic *piþō. Compare pith.

noun pits

Northern US A seed inside a fruit; a stone or pip inside a fruit. Near-synonym: pip
Similar: seed pit, stone, pyrena, pyrene, pip
The core of an implosion nuclear weapon, consisting of the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it. [...] weapons "pits" (the plutonium components of nuclear weapons, named by analogy with the pit of a fruit such as a peach), [...].

verb pits · pitting · pitted

transitive 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.

pit^³

/pɪt/ US, UK
[pʰɪʔt] US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪt

Where it comes from

Shortening.

noun pits

informal A pit bull terrier. I resolved to find all my pits good homes and to get out of the rescue and breeding business.
Similar: pibble, pit bull, pittie, shitbull, velvet hippo

pit^⁴

/pɪt/ US, UK
[pʰɪʔt] US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪt

Where it comes from

From PIT maneuver.

verb pits · pitting · pitted

To use the PIT maneuver, especially during a car chase.

PIT^⁵

proper noun PITT · Pitt. · Pit.

abbreviation Abbreviation of Pittsburgh

noun PITs

abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of personal income tax
abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of programmable interval timer
abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of precision immobilization technique: a method for ending car chases by causing a controlled collision, forcing the pursued car into a spin.
abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of pursuit intervention technique: the same method for ending car chases.
abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of parallel immobilization technique: the same method for ending car chases.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: cavity, quarry, colliery, stone, pitfall, mark, scar, pock, fossa, orchestra pit, oppose, match, stone pit, hole, foxhole, trench

Translations

Every language

noun music: section of a marching band

Français	fosse

noun hole in the ground

Español	fosa, agujero, hoya, foya
한국어	구멍 gumeong, 구덩이 gudeong'i
日本語	落とし穴 otoshiana, 穴 ana
中文	坑 kēng, 穴 xué
हिन्दी	गडडा gaḍḍā
Português	buraco, poço, cavouco, vala, fosso
Français	fosse
Deutsch	Grube, Loch, Vertiefung
Italiano	fossa, buca, buco
Ελληνικά	λάκκος lákkos
Română	groapă
Русский	я́ма jáma
Tiếng Việt	hố
العربية	حُفْرَة ḥufra
עברית	בור bor

noun archaeology: excavation hole

Español	foso, excavación
Deutsch	Ausgrabung, Grabestelle, Grabung, Grabungsloch

noun small surface hole or depression

Deutsch	Vertiefung, Loch, Grube, Kuhle, Erdgrube

noun indented mark left by a pustule

Deutsch	Narbe

noun grave or underworld

Deutsch	Hölle, Grab

noun enclosed area into which animals are brought to fight

Deutsch	Kampfplatz

noun service area at a motor racetrack

Español	pit, box
Português	pitstop
Français	stand, puits
Deutsch	Box
Italiano	box
Ελληνικά	πιτ pit
Русский	бо́ксы bóksy

verb to make pits in

Español	agujerear
Deutsch	zernarben, zerfurchen, anfressen, angreifen

verb to put a dog into dog fight

Deutsch	gegeneinander antreten lassen, miteinander kämpfen lassen, gegeneinander kämpfen lassen

verb to bring into opposition

Español	oponer
Français	opposer
Deutsch	aneinander messen, entgegen setzen, gegenüber treten
Ελληνικά	αντιτάσσω antitásso

verb motor racing: to return to the pits

Deutsch	an die Box fahren, Boxenstopp machen, Boxenstopp einlegen

noun seed or stone inside a fruit

Español	hueso, pepita, pepa, güito, carozo
中文	核 hé, 果核 guǒhé
Português	caroço, graínha
Français	noyau, pépin
Deutsch	Same, Kern, Stein
Italiano	osso, nocciolo
Ελληνικά	κουκούτσι koukoútsi
Română	sâmbure
Русский	ко́сточка kóstočka
עברית	חַרְצָן ẖartzán

verb remove the stone from

Español	deshuesar
Português	descaroçar
Français	dénoyauter, épépiner
Deutsch	aussteinen, entsteinen, entkernen
Italiano	denocciolare, snocciolare

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"pit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pit. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pit. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pit

Chicago

"pit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pit.

BibTeX

@misc{pit_2026,
  title = {pit},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pit},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

pit

AI In plain words

pit¹

Where it comes from

noun pits

verb pits · pitting · pitted

pit²

Where it comes from

noun pits

verb pits · pitting · pitted

pit³

Where it comes from

noun pits

pit⁴

Where it comes from

verb pits · pitting · pitted

PIT⁵

proper noun PITT · Pitt. · Pit.

noun PITs

Thesaurus

Translations

noun music: section of a marching band

noun hole in the ground

noun archaeology: excavation hole

noun small surface hole or depression

noun indented mark left by a pustule

noun grave or underworld

noun enclosed area into which animals are brought to fight

noun service area at a motor racetrack

verb to make pits in

verb to put a dog into dog fight

verb to bring into opposition

verb motor racing: to return to the pits

noun seed or stone inside a fruit

verb remove the stone from

pit^¹

pit^²

pit^³

pit^⁴

PIT^⁵