From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpitpit1 /pɪt/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 hole a) HOLEa hole in the ground, especially one made by digging The female digs a pit in which to lay the eggs. a five-foot deep pit → sandpit b) HOLEa large hole in the ground from which stones or minerals are obtained by digginggravel/sand/chalk pit2 mineTI especially British English a coal mine Dad first went down the pit (=worked in a coal mine) when he was 15 years old. a national strike against pit closures3 mark a small hollow mark in the surface of something, especially on your skin as the result of a disease the deep pits left by smallpox4 untidy place [usually singular] informalUNTIDY a house or room that is dirty, untidy, or in bad condition5 → be the pits6 → in/at the pit of your stomach7 → the pits8 in a theatre an orchestra pit 9 in a garageTTC a hole in the floor of a garage that lets you get under a car to repair it an inspection pit10 → a/the pit of something11 in fruit especially American EnglishHBPDF the single large hard seed in some fruits SYN stone British English a peach pit12 body part informalHBH an armpit13 business American EnglishBFS the area of a stock exchange where people buy and sell shares SYN floor British English
Examples from the Corpus
pit• We dug a pit a yard deep in the soil.• Every military camp has a pit, where prisoners are held.• There are tiny scratches and pits on the windshield.• But somebody ought to tell the filmmakers, who are churning out movies as if demand were a bottomless pit.• The dis-used brick pit has been a tip for 10 years and will continue as one for 30 more.• It was another plastic bag of clothes from the clunch pit murder.• a gravel pit• S., methods by which operas hire pit orchestras vary.• The opera needs the players for its pit orchestra.• They found a large pit where all the dead bodies had been thrown.• Many of the victims were buried in large pits.• Eric's house is a total pit.gravel/sand/chalk pit• Around Chichester there is an area of gravel and gravel pits of considerable economic importance.• Not simply on Tring Reservoirs or the home counties gravel pits do men now sit for a ten pounder anymore.• Many schools are fortunate to have an outside sand pit as well.• Some men pinched all the wages at the gravel pit.• Hand carts and horsedrawn carts wait to carry away building supplies brought from the gravel pits of Middlesex.• The money he had stolen from the gravel pits reposed under his bunk in the houseboat.• Now suppose we ask Professor Summerlee, after a particular landing in the sand pit, what he has just experienced.• The chalk pit itself is potentially a valuable habitat and adds yet one more facet to this lovely stretch of land.pit closures• Occupancy at Pontins dropped 13% and bookings dipped after pit closures were announced.• The dockside coal depot will be the focal point of a demonstration against imports and pit closures tomorrow.• K Thousands of coal miners marched through central London to protest at the Government's bungled pit closures.• Further contraction, pit closures, and industrial erosion would certainly follow.• He promised a moratorium on pit closures if Labour won.• These ravenous companies claim to provide jobs to communities starved of employment following the pit closures.• But he pulled out because of the expected Government statement on the pit closures programme this afternoon.inspection pit• Below: The interior of the depot, with its five inspection pits and single-span roof.• The remains of the old Motherwell car are lying in the inspection pit underneath! 3.• The inspection pit and work bench.pitpit2 verb (pitted, pitting) 1 [transitive]HOLE to put small marks or holes in the surface of somethingbe pitted with something The whole street was pitted with potholes.Grammar Pit is usually passive in this meaning.2 [transitive] especially American EnglishDFC to take out the single hard seed inside some fruits SYN stone Peel and pit two avocados.3 [intransitive] American English to stop in a car race to get petrol or have your car repaired → pitted → pit somebody/something against somebody/something → pit out→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
pit• Never in this century has the fight for the presidency pitted a congressional monarch against an incumbent president.• She was still quite ready for anything the Union chose to pit a gains her.• Leaders and managers who are trying to speed up the pace of change in their organizations will find themselves pitted against job-mindedness.• Colors of the rainbow sparkled in the spray, the ground was less pitted and dusty.• You could also add drained, pitted canned cherries.• Stainless steel cutlery Can discolour and pit if left coated with food, so use the pre-wash cycle.• CO2 pellets do not pit or cut the surface they are cleaning.• Andretti pitted with 16 laps left.• The street was pitted with potholes.From Longman Business Dictionarypitpit /pɪt/ noun [countable] American English1FINANCE an area of the floor of a financial market where buying and selling takes place and dealers speak directly to each otherSYNFLOOR, TRADING FLOORthe currency pit of the Chicago Commodity Exchangethe most active trader in the world’s most active futures-trading pit2a mine, especially a coal mineWe have no choice but to close unprofitable pits.Origin pit1 1. Old English pytt2. (1800-1900) Dutch 