pit
pit — noun
1. a deep, often wide hole that has been dug into the ground or that has formed nat
a deep, often wide hole that has been dug into the ground or that has formed naturally below the surrounding surface.
The workers dug a deep pit at the bottom of the garden to bury old tree roots.
dig + a pit + (in location)
Maya almost stepped into a muddy pit hidden under the fallen leaves.
fall / step into a pit
Around the campfire, the children roasted marshmallows over a shallow pit lined with stones.
shallow / deep + pit
Heavy rain had washed soil into the pit, turning it into a brown pool.
subject = inanimate; pit as filled space
The old farmhouse had a small storage pit dug under the kitchen floor.
compound: storage pit
- dig a pit
- fall into a pit
- deep pit
- shallow pit
- fire pit
- storage pit
- mound
raised heap of earth, the opposite shape
Grammar Patterns
a pit + (in/of) + something
Usage Note
Often takes a descriptive adjective of size or shape (deep, shallow, wide, gaping) and pairs with verbs of action (dig, fall into, climb out of). Frequently appears in compounds like fire pit, storage pit, gravel pit.
Common Mistakes
2. a place, usually underground, where coal or other minerals are removed from the
a place, usually underground, where coal or other minerals are removed from the earth, together with the buildings and machines used for that work.
Marcus's grandfather worked in a coal pit in Yorkshire for nearly forty years.
work in + a (coal) pit
After the strike, three local pits were closed and the village lost most of its jobs.
pit + closed / shut
Many young men went down the pit at sixteen to support their families.
go down + the pit (idiomatic)
Safety lamps helped miners spot dangerous gas in the deep tin pits of Cornwall.
tin / coal / gravel + pit
- coal pit
- tin pit
- gravel pit
- go down the pit
- close a pit
Grammar Patterns
work in / down a pit
Usage Note
Mainly British. Common in 'go down the pit' (= work as a miner) and in compounds like coal pit, tin pit, gravel pit. American English usually prefers 'mine' for the underground sense and keeps 'pit' for open-surface workings.
3. the marked space beside a race track where cars stop briefly so that mechanics c
the marked space beside a race track where cars stop briefly so that mechanics can refuel them, change tyres, and make small repairs.
Hamilton drove into the pits on lap twenty to change all four tyres.
drive / go into the pits
The mechanics waited in the pit with fresh tyres and a fuel hose ready.
wait / work in the pit
A slow stop in the pits cost the Ferrari driver his lead in the final laps.
stop / pit stop in the pits
Television cameras showed the team crew running back to the pit wall after a chaotic stop.
pit wall / pit lane (compound)
- pit lane
- pit crew
- pit stop
- pit wall
- drive into the pits
Grammar Patterns
go into / come out of the pits
Usage Note
Typically plural ('the pits') when referring to the whole working area, singular for a particular team's slot. Appears in many fixed compounds: pit lane, pit wall, pit crew, pit stop. The compound 'pit stop' has also extended into everyday speech to mean any short break on a long journey (for fuel, food, or the toilet).
4. the single hard seed in the centre of fruits such as peaches, plums, cherries, a
the single hard seed in the centre of fruits such as peaches, plums, cherries, and avocados; in British English this is usually called the 'stone'.
Lina bit into the cherry too quickly and almost cracked a tooth on the pit.
bite on / crack a tooth on the pit
Carlos cut around the avocado and lifted out the smooth brown pit with a spoon.
remove / lift out + the pit
Please don't swallow the peach pit — give it to me on this little plate.
peach / cherry / plum + pit
After the picnic, a small pile of olive pits sat on a paper napkin between them.
olive pit (plural)
- cherry pit
- peach pit
- olive pit
- avocado pit
- remove the pit
Grammar Patterns
the pit of + fruit
Usage Note
American English term; British English speakers use 'stone' for the same thing (peach stone, cherry stone). The verb 'pit' (sense verb/2) is built on this noun.
Common Mistakes
5. the lowered space in a theatre, just below the front of the stage, where the mus
the lowered space in a theatre, just below the front of the stage, where the musicians sit and play during an opera, ballet, or musical.
From the front row, Sophie could see the conductor waving his baton in the pit.
in the (orchestra) pit
Twenty musicians squeezed into the narrow pit below the stage of the old opera house.
musicians + in / below + pit
Soft clarinet music drifted up from the pit while the dancers walked into position.
music drifts / rises from the pit
After the final song, the cast bowed and pointed down to thank the players in the pit.
thank / acknowledge + the pit
- orchestra pit
- in the pit
- from the pit
- pit musicians
- orchestra pit
the full and clearer term for the same space
- stage
the raised area where the actors or dancers perform, just above the pit
Grammar Patterns
in / from the pit
Usage Note
Almost always called the 'orchestra pit' in full when there is any chance of confusion. In older British theatres 'the pit' could also mean the cheap seats on the ground floor — that historical use is rare today.
6. a room or building that is so messy, dirty, or untidy that it feels unpleasant t
a room or building that is so messy, dirty, or untidy that it feels unpleasant to be in — used as an exaggeration.
Your bedroom is a pit, Daniel — I can't even see the carpet anymore.
predicative: be a pit
After the party, the kitchen looked like a pit, with empty bottles on every surface.
look / become like a pit
Mum says she won't drive me anywhere until I clean up this pit of a room.
this pit of a + noun
The student flat was a real pit by the end of exam week.
a real pit (intensified)
- a real pit
- this pit of a room
- an absolute pit
Grammar Patterns
a (real) pit
Usage Note
Informal and exaggerated; usually used by parents, flatmates, or about one's own space. Common pattern: 'this pit of a + room/kitchen/flat'. Distinguish from sense 7 (something low-quality in general): sense 6 is specifically about physical mess.
7. (in the phrase 'the pits') someone or something so bad, boring, or disappointing
(in the phrase 'the pits') someone or something so bad, boring, or disappointing that nothing seems worse.
Working night shifts over Christmas is honestly the pits.
be + the pits (subject = activity)
Lina said the new café was the pits — cold coffee and rude staff.
be the pits + reason
Lina said losing her train tickets at the gate was the pits of her whole vacation.
be the pits of + noun (intensified)
Marcus thought their hotel was the pits and asked for a refund the next morning.
subject = thing/place; past tense
- be the pits
- absolutely the pits
- just the pits
- the best
direct opposite, also informal
Grammar Patterns
be the pits
Usage Note
Always plural and always with 'the': 'is/are the pits'. Informal and somewhat dated in British English; still common in American conversation. Distinguish from sense 6 (a place that is physically dirty): sense 7 is a general 'worst' judgement, not about mess.
Common Mistakes
the part of the body just below the chest, where people often say they feel a strong physical reaction to fear, worry, or shock.
When Anna saw the police car at her door, she felt a cold weight in the pit of her stomach.
Marcus had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he opened the exam results.
to secretly plan trouble or harm for another person, often in a way that ends up hurting yourself instead.
Lord Marston spent months digging a pit for his rival, only to lose his own title in the same scandal.
The novel's villain digs a pit for the young hero but falls into it himself in the final chapter.
a bottomless pit
idioma person, place, or situation that always needs more — money, food, energy, or attention — and never seems satisfied.
Teenage boys are a bottomless pit at dinner — Sarah cooks twice as much as before.
The failing factory had become a bottomless pit for government money.
be the pits
idiomIt means something is extremely bad or the worst possible.
This rainy weather is the pits for our picnic.
My phone battery dying was the pits.
It refers to something that seems to have no limit or end.
The project became a bottomless pit of money.
Her grief was a bottomless pit of sorrow.
It is the lower part of the stomach where you feel strong emotions like fear.
A sudden fear gripped the pit of his stomach.
I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach before the exam.
pit — verb
1. to place two people, teams, ideas, or forces in a contest so that they have to c
to place two people, teams, ideas, or forces in a contest so that they have to compete with or fight each other.
The semi-final pits last year's champion against a young player from Brazil.
pit X against Y (active)
The new policy pits small farmers against large supermarket chains for the same shoppers.
pit + group + against + group
Sophie was pitted against her older brother in the chess tournament's first round.
passive: be pitted against
The film pits human courage against a storm that destroys whole towns in minutes.
abstract: pit virtue/quality + against + force
Reporters love a debate that pits two strong personalities against each other on live television.
pit + two + against each other
- pit against each other
- be pitted against
- pit X against Y
- match
neutral; suggests a fair pairing rather than open conflict
- set against
very close in meaning; slightly more general
- oppose
more formal; subject is usually a person taking a side
Grammar Patterns
pit + someone/something + against + someone/something
Usage Note
Almost always followed by 'against'. Often used in passive ('be pitted against'). Subjects are typically organisers, situations, or events — not the competitors themselves. Common in sports reports, politics, and reviews of films and books.
Common Mistakes
2. to take the hard seed out of a piece of fruit such as a cherry, plum, olive, or
to take the hard seed out of a piece of fruit such as a cherry, plum, olive, or peach so that the soft flesh can be eaten or cooked.
Carlos pitted two cups of cherries before adding them to the pie filling.
pit + quantity + fruit
A small kitchen tool can pit olives quickly without crushing the soft flesh.
tool / device + pit + fruit
Please rinse and pit the plums before you put them in the freezer bag.
imperative: rinse and pit
The recipe says to halve and pit six ripe peaches, then grill them cut-side down.
halve and pit + fruit
- pit cherries
- pit olives
- halve and pit
- rinse and pit
Grammar Patterns
pit + fruit
Usage Note
Mainly American; British recipes usually say 'stone the cherries / remove the stones'. Object is always a stone fruit or olives — not apples or grapes. Built on the noun sense 4 ('fruit stone').
Common Mistakes
3. to leave many small holes or shallow scars on a surface, or (of a surface) to de
to leave many small holes or shallow scars on a surface, or (of a surface) to develop such marks over time, usually because of damage, disease, or wear.
Years of acid rain had pitted the stone faces of the cathedral statues.
active transitive: pit + surface
The old road was pitted with deep potholes after the long winter.
passive: be pitted with + noun
Marcus's cheeks were lightly pitted from the chickenpox he had as a child.
be pitted (of skin) + from + cause
Cheap copper pots can pit quickly if you leave acidic sauces sitting in them overnight.
intransitive: surface pits
- pitted with potholes
- pitted skin
- pitted surface
- acid pits the metal
- smooth
as a verb, the opposite action — to make a surface even
Grammar Patterns
pit + surface
be pitted with + something
surface + pits
Usage Note
Most often in the passive ('be pitted with') describing a damaged surface — roads, walls, metal, or skin. The intransitive use ('this metal pits easily') belongs to technical writing about materials. Distinguish from verb sense 1 (set against): sense 3 always involves a physical surface, never a contest.
Word family
- pittedadjectiveC1
- pitfallnounC1
- pit stopnounB2
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
All five words name a space below the surrounding surface, but each has a typical shape and a typical cause. A 'hole' is the broadest term — it covers any gap, in the ground, a wall, or even fabric. A 'pit' is usually larger than a hole and dug into the ground for a purpose: storage, fire, or burial. A 'hollow' sounds gentler and more natural — a soft dip in a field where rainwater gathers, rather than something cut by tools. A 'ditch' is long and narrow, made for water or drainage along a road or field. A 'crater' is round and bowl-shaped, formed by sudden force such as a bomb, volcano, or meteor strike. So you would 'dig a pit' for a campfire, 'fill in a hole' in the lawn, walk through a 'hollow' in the woods, jump over a 'ditch' beside a country road, and stare into a 'crater' on the moon.
Common collocations
Nouns
- pit stop
- pit lane
- pit crew
- fire pit
- gravel pit
- cherry pit
Adverbs
- deeply pitted
- badly pitted
- heavily pitted
Phrases
- dig a pit
- be the pits
- the pit of the stomach
- a bottomless pit
Prepositions
- pit against
- fall into a pit
- in the pit
- out of the pit
Etymology
The noun comes from Old English 'pytt', meaning a hole, well, or grave, which English borrowed early from a Late Latin word 'puteus' for 'well' or 'shaft'. Related forms appear in Dutch ('put') and German ('Pfütze', meaning 'puddle'), all going back to the same Latin root. The verb sense 'to set in a contest' grew out of the medieval practice of putting fighting animals such as cocks or dogs into a pit to fight, recorded from the seventeenth century. The American sense of 'pit' for the hard seed in a fruit is a separate borrowing from Dutch 'pit' (kernel, core), brought to North America by Dutch settlers in the seventeenth century, which is why British English still uses 'stone' for the same fruit part.