HOW TO PRONOUNCE
pit
/pɪt/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:55
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What does pit mean?
noun
- A hole in the ground.
- An area at a racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a 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.
More meanings (36)
noun
- 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.
- A trading pit.
- An armpit.
- A luggage hold.
- A small surface hole or depression, a fossa.
- The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.
- The grave, underworld or Hell.
- An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.
- 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.
- (slang) Only used in the pits.
- (slang) A mosh pit.
- The center of the line.
- (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.
- (informal) An undesirable location, especially an unclean one.
- (figuratively) A bleak, depressing state of mind.
- Short for dish pit
- On a compact disc or similar recording medium, a tiny sunken area representing part of the encoded data.
- A seed inside a fruit; a stone or pip inside a fruit.
- The core of an implosion nuclear weapon, consisting of the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it.
- (informal) A pit bull terrier.
- Initialism of personal income tax.
- Initialism of programmable interval timer.
- Initialism of precision immobilization technique: a method for ending car chases by causing a controlled collision, forcing the pursued car into a spin.
- Initialism of pursuit intervention technique: the same method for ending car chases.
- Initialism of parallel immobilization technique: the same method for ending car chases.
verb
- To make pits in; to mark with little hollows.
- To put (an animal) into a pit for fighting.
- To bring (something) into opposition with something else.
- To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.
- To remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.
- To use the PIT maneuver, especially during a car chase.
proper noun
- Abbreviation of Pittsburgh.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/pɪt/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
At that he stood irresolute for a moment, then turned, scrambled out of the pit, and set off running wildly into Woking.
When Freckles saw what it was he forgave himself the kick in the pit of Wessner's stomach, and cursed fervently and deep.
More book examples (3)
He came straight home from the pit, and stayed in at evening till Friday, and then he could not remain at home.
To render the pit entrance more commodious, it had been deemed advisable to remove a low public-house that stood in the way.
I spoke from the pit of my stomach for the rest of the journey, but I felt completely extinguished, and dreadfully young.