/ pɪt; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
DEEP HOLE
1.
[ C ] a large deep hole in the ground :
We dug a deep pit in the yard.
The body had been dumped in a pit.
2.
[ C ] (especially in compounds) a deep hole in the ground from which minerals are dug out :
a chalk / gravel pit
MINE
3.
[ C ] = coal mine :
pit closures
( BrE )
He went down the pit (= started work as a miner ) when he left school.
IN SKIN
4.
a small shallow hole in the surface of sth, especially a mark left on the surface of the skin by some disease, such as chickenpox
—see also pitted
IN FRUIT
5.
( especially NAmE ) = stone (5):
a peach pit
IN MOTOR RACING
6.
the pits [ pl. ] ( BrE ) ( NAmE the pit [ C ]) a place near the track where cars can stop for fuel, new tyres, etc. during a race
—see also pit stop
IN THEATRE
7.
= orchestra pit
PART OF BODY
8.
( NAmE , informal ) = armpit
IN BUSINESS
9.
( NAmE ) the area of a stock exchange where a particular product is traded :
the corn pit
—compare floor (6)
—see also sandpit
•
IDIOMS
- be the pits
- the pit of your / the stomach
—more at bottomless
■ verb
( -tt- ) [ vn ] [ usually passive ]
MAKE HOLES
1.
to make marks or holes on the surface of sth :
The surface of the moon is pitted with craters.
Smallpox scars had pitted his face.
FRUIT
2.
= stone (2):
pitted olives
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- pit sb/sth against sth
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 1 to 4 and noun senses 6 to 9 verb sense 1 Old English pytt , of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch put and German Pfütze , based on Latin puteus well, shaft.
noun sense 5 and verb sense 2 mid 19th cent.: apparently from Dutch ; related to pith .