[pit] n [ME, fr. OE pytt (akin to OHG pfuzzi well), fr. L puteus well, pit] (bef. 12c) 1 a (1): a hole, shaft, or cavity in the ground (2): mine (3): a scooped-out place used for burning something (as charcoal) b: an area often sunken or depressed below the adjacent floor area: as (1): an enclosure in which animals are made to fight each other (2): a space at the front of a theater for the orchestra (3): an area in a securities or commodities exchange in which members trade (as stocks)
2. a: hell--used with the b: a place or situation of futility, misery, or degradation c pl: worst "it's the ~s"
3: a hollow or indentation esp. in the surface of an organism: as a: a natural hollow in the surface of the body b: one of the indented scars left in the skin by a pustular disease: pockmark c: a minute depression in the secondary wall of a plant cell functioning in the intercellular movement of water and dissolved material
4: any of the areas alongside an auto racecourse used for refueling and repairing the cars during a race--often used in pl. with the
[2]pit vb pit.ted ; pit.ting vt (15c) 1 a: to place, cast, bury, or store in a pit b: to make pits in; esp: to scar or mark with pits
2. a: to set (as gamecocks) into or as if into a pit to fight b: to set into opposition or rivalry--usu. used with against ~ vi 1: to become marked with pits; esp: to preserve for a time an indentation made by pressure
2: to make a pit stop [3]pit n [D, fr. MD--more at pith] (1841): the stone of a drupaceous fruit [4]pit vt pit.ted ; pit.ting (1913): to remove the pit from (a fruit)