pit
pit
/pɪt/
deep hole
We dug a deep pit in the yard.
The body had been dumped in a pit.
(figurative) The human mind is a dark, bottomless pit.
Collocations
adjective
verb + pit
2 countable (especially in compounds) a deep hole in the ground from which minerals are dug out a chalk/gravel pit
They extract the mineral from open pits and underground mines.
a disused gravel pit
mine
3 (also coal mine) countable a place underground where coal is dug pit closures
(British English) He went down the pit (= started work as a miner) when he left school.
Most boys in the town worked in the pits.
There's no more work in these pit villages.
Collocations
adjective
verb + pit
pit + noun
preposition
in a/the pit
in skin
4 countable a small shallow hole in the surface of something, especially a mark left on the surface of the skin by some disease, such as chickenpox in fruit
5 (especially North American English) (also stone especially in British English) countable a hard shell containing the nut or seed in the middle of some types of fruit a peach pit
Collocations
adjective
verb + pit
in motor racing
6 the pits plural (British English) (North American English usually the pit countable) a place near the track where cars can stop for fuel, new tyres, etc. during a race in theatre
7 (also orchestra pit) countable the place in a theatre just in front of the stage where the orchestra sits and plays for an opera, a ballet, etc. part of body
8 countable (North American English, informal) an armpit (= the part of the body under the arm where it joins the shoulder) in business
9 countable (North American English) the area of a stock exchange where a particular product is traded the corn pit
COMPARE floor
SEE ALSO sandpit
Idioms
Word Origin
noun senses 1 to 4 and noun senses 6 to 9,Old English pytt, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch put and German Pfütze, based on Latin puteus ‘well, shaft’. noun sense 5 mid 19th cent.: apparently from Dutch; related to pith.
e.g.