Pit

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Pit, n. [OE. pit, put, AS. pytt a pit, hole, L. puteus a well, pit.].

•  A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation  [1913 Webster]

  "Tumble me into some loathsome pit."  [1913 Webster]
•  Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades.  [1913 Webster]

  "Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained."  [1913 Webster]

  "He keepth back his soul from the pit."  [1913 Webster]
•  A covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall; hence, a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively.  [1913 Webster]

  "The anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits."  [1913 Webster]
•  A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body  [1913 Webster]
•  Formerly, that part of a theater, 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 theater.  [1913 Webster]
•  An inclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.  Locke.  [1913 Webster]
•  The endocarp of a drupe, and its contained seed or seeds; a stone; as, a peach pit; a cherry pit, etc.  [1913 Webster]

Cold pit (Hort.), an excavation in the earth, lined with masonry or boards, and covered with glass, but not artificially heated, -- used in winter for the storing and protection of half-hardly plants, and sometimes in the spring as a forcing bed. -- Pit coal, coal dug from the earth; mineral coal. -- Pit frame, the framework over the shaft of a coal mine. -- Pit head, the surface of the ground at the mouth of a pit or mine. -- Pit kiln, an oven for coking coal. -- Pit martin (Zoöl.), the bank swallow. [Prov. Eng.] -- Pit of the stomach (Anat.), the depression on the middle line of the epigastric region of the abdomen at the lower end of the sternum; the infrasternal depression. -- Pit saw (Mech.), a saw worked by two men, one of whom stands on the log and the other beneath it. The place of the latter is often in a pit, whence the name. -- pit stop, See pit stop in the vocabulary. -- Pit viper (Zoöl.), any viperine snake having a deep pit on each side of the snout. The rattlesnake and copperhead are examples. -- Working pit (Min.), a shaft in which the ore is hoisted and the workmen carried; -- in distinction from a shaft used for the pumps.

Pit, v. t. 

•  To place or put into a pit or hole.  [1913 Webster]

  "They lived like beasts, and were pitted like beasts, tumbled into the grave."  [1913 Webster]
•  To mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as, a face pitted by smallpox.  [1913 Webster]
•  To introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a contest; as, to pit one dog against another.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Pit, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a usu. large deep hole in the ground. b a hole made in digging for industrial purposes, esp. for coal (chalk pit; gravel pit). c a covered hole as a trap for esp. wild animals.
2 a an indentation left after smallpox, acne, etc. b a hollow in a plant or animal body or on any surface.
3 Brit. Theatr. a = orchestra pit. b usu. hist. seating at the back of the stalls. c the people in the pit.
4 a (the pit or bottomless pit) hell. b (the pits) sl. a wretched or the worst imaginable place, situation, person, etc.
5 a an area at the side of a track where racing cars are serviced and refuelled. b a sunken area in a workshop floor for access to a car's underside.
6 US the part of the floor of an exchange allotted to special trading (wheat-pit).
7 = COCKPIT.
8 Brit. sl. a bed.
--v. (pitted, pitting)
1 tr. (usu. foll. by against) a set (one's wits, strength, etc.) in opposition or rivalry. b set (a cock, dog, etc.) to fight, orig. in a pit, against another.
2 tr. (usu. as pitted adj.) make pits, esp. scars, in.
3 intr. (of the flesh etc.) retain the impression of a finger etc. when touched.
4 tr. Hort. put (esp. vegetables etc. for storage) into a pit.

Idiom

dig a pit for try to ensnare. pit-head 1 the top of a mineshaft.
2 the area surrounding this.
pit of the stomach
1 the floor of the stomach.
2 the depression below the bottom of the breastbone. pit pony hist. a pony kept underground for haulage in coal-mines. pit-prop a balk of wood used to support the roof of a coal mine. pit-saw a large saw for use in a saw-pit. pit viper any US snake of the family Crotalidae with a pit between the eye and the nostril.

Pit, n. & v. US
--n. the stone of a fruit.
--v.tr. (pitted, pitting) remove pits from (fruit).

Etymology

perh. Du., rel. to PITH

THESAURUS

Pit

American Stock Exchange, Amex, L, R, Wall Street, abysm, abyss, acorn, acting area, agora, alveolation, alveolus, amphitheater, antrum, apron, apron stage, arena, armpit, athletic field, audience, auditorium, auditory, background, backstage, balcony, band shell, bandstand, bank, barrow, basin, bear garden, beehive tomb, berry, bird seed, birthmark, blackhead, bleb, blemish, blister, board, bone house, bourse, bowl, box, box grave, box seat, boxing ring, bridge, bull ring, bulla, burial, burial chamber, burial mound, campus, canvas, catacombs, cavity, cenotaph, charnel house, chasm, check, cicatrix, circus, cist, cist grave, coal mine, cockpit, coliseum, colliery, colosseum, comedo, commodity exchange, concave, concavity, congregation, corn pit, coulisse, counter, course, crack, crater, craze, crevasse, cromlech, crypt, cup, curb, curb exchange, curb market, deep, deep six, defacement, defect, deformation, deformity, dent, depress, depression, depth, dig, diggings, dimple, dint, dip, disfiguration, disfigurement, distortion, dock, dokhma, dolmen, dress circle, dressing room, engrave, excavation, exchange, exchange floor, fault, fauteuil, feel, field, finish, flaw, flaxseed, flies, floor, fly floor, fly gallery, fold, follicle, forestage, forum, freckle, fruit, funnel chest, furrow, gallery, gold mine, gouge, grain, granular texture, grave, greenroom, grid, gridiron, ground, groundling, gulf, gym, gymnasium, hall, hayseed, hemangioma, hickey, hippodrome, hole, hollow, hollow shell, honeycomb, house, house of death, impress, impression, imprint, indent, indentation, indention, indenture, keloid, kernel, kink, knub, lacuna, last home, lentigo, lightboard, linseed, lists, locale, loge, long home, low green tent, low house, marketplace, mastaba, mat, match, mausoleum, milieu, milium, mine, mole, monstrance, mummy chamber, nap, narrow house, needle scar, nevus, nigger heaven, notch, nub, nut, open cut, open forum, opencast, orchestra, orchestra circle, orchestra pit, ossuarium, ossuary, outside market, over-the-counter market, palaestra, parade ground, paradise, parquet, parquet circle, parterre, passage grave, peanut gallery, performing area, pile, pimple, pip, place, platform, pock, pocket, pockmark, port-wine mark, port-wine stain, precinct, press in, print, prize ring, proscenium, proscenium boxes, proscenium stage, protuberance, public square, punch, punch bowl, punch in, purlieu, pustule, pyramid, quarry, quotation board, range, recess, reliquary, resting place, rift, ring, scab, scar, scene, scene of action, scenery, scoop, scratch, sebaceous cyst, seed, sepulcher, set back, set in, setting, shaft, shaft grave, shag, shell, shrine, sink, sinus, site, socket, spectator, sphere, split, squared circle, stadium, stage, stage left, stage right, stage set, stage setting, stall, stamp, standing room, stock exchange, stock market, stock ticker, stone, strawberry mark, structure, stupa, sty, sunken part, surface, surface texture, switchboard, tamp, telephone market, terrain, texture, the Big Board, the Exchange, the boards, theater, theatre stall, third market, ticker, ticker tape, tilting ground, tiltyard, tomb, tope, tower of silence, track, trough, tumulus, twist, vault, verruca, vesicle, vie, vug, wale, walk, warp, wart, weal, weave, well, welt, wen, wheat pit, whitehead, wings, woof, workings, wrestling ring, yawning abyss

ROGET THESAURUS

Pit

The Drama

N the drama, the stage, the theater, the play, film the film, movies, motion pictures, cinema, cinematography, theatricals, dramaturgy, histrionic art, buskin, sock, cothurnus, Melpomene and Thalia, Thespis, play, drama, stage play, piece, five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta, lever de rideau, interlude, afterpiece, exode, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta, harlequinade, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe, ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame, melodrama, melodrame, comidie larmoyante, sensation drama, tragicomedy, farcical-comedy, monodrame monologue, duologue trilogy, charade, proverbs, mystery, miracle play, musical, musical comedy, western, horse opera, flick, spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film, pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film, act, scene, tableau, induction, introduction, prologue, epilogue, libretto, performance, representation, mise en scene, stagery, jeu de theatre, acting, gesture, impersonation, stage business, gag, buffoonery, light comedy, genteel comedy, low comedy, theater, playhouse, opera house, house, music hall, amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round, puppet show, fantoccini, marionettes, Punch and Judy, auditory, auditorium, front of the house, stalls, boxes, pit, gallery, parquet, greenroom, coulisses, flat, drop, drop scene, wing, screen, side scene, transformation scene, curtain, act drop, proscenium, stage, scene, scenery, the boards, trap, mezzanine floor, flies, floats, footlights, offstage, orchestra, theatrical costume, theatrical properties, movie studio, back lot, on location, part, role, character, dramatis personae, repertoire, actor, thespian, player, method actor, stage player, strolling player, stager, performer, mime, mimer, artists, comedian, tragedian, tragedienne, Roscius, star, movie star, star of stage and screen, superstar, idol, sex symbol, supporting actor, supporting cast, ham, hamfatter, masker, pantomimist, clown harlequin, buffo, buffoon, farceur, grimacer, pantaloon, columbine, punchinello, pulcinello, pulcinella, extra, bit- player, walk-on role, cameo appearance, mute, figurante, general utility, super, supernumerary, company, first tragedian, prima donna, protagonist, jeune premier, debutant, debutante, light comedian, genteel comedian, low comedian, walking gentleman, amoroso, heavy father, ingenue, jeune veuve, mummer, guiser, guisard, gysart, masque, mountebank, Jack Pudding, tumbler, posture master, acrobat, contortionist, ballet dancer, ballet girl, chorus singer, coryphee danseuse, property man, costumier, machinist, prompter, call boy, manager, director, stage manager, acting manager, producer, entrepreneur, impresario, backer, investor, angel, dramatic author, dramatic writer, play writer, playwright, dramatist, mimographer, dramatic, theatric, theatrical, scenic, histrionic, comic, tragic, buskined, farcical, tragicomic, melodramatic, operatic, stagy, on the stage, on the boards, on film, before the floats, before an audience, behind the scenes, fere totus mundus exercet histrionem, suit the action to the word, the word to the action, the play's the thing, to wake the soul by tender strokes of art.

Depth

N depth, deepness, profundity, depression, hollow, pit, shaft, well, crater, gulf, bowels of the earth, botttomless pit, hell, soundings, depth of water, water, draught, submersion, plummet, sound, probe, sounding rod, sounding line, lead, bathymetry, sonar, side-looking sonar, bathometer, deep, deep seated, profound, sunk, buried, submerged, subaqueous, submarine, subterranean, subterraneous, subterrene, underground, bottomless, soundless, fathomless, unfathomed, unfathomable, abysmal, deep as a well, bathycolpian, benthal, benthopelagic, downreaching, yawning, knee deep, ankle deep, beyond one's depth, out of one's depth, over head and ears, mark twine, mark twain.

Concavity

N concavity, depression, dip, hollow, hollowness, indentation, intaglio, cavity, dent, dint, dimple, follicle, pit, sinus, alveolus, lacuna, excavation, strip mine, trough, honeycomb, cup, basin, crater, punch bowl, cell, socket, valley, vale, dale, dell, dingle, combe, bottom, slade, strath, glade, grove, glen, cave, cavern, cove, grot, grotto, alcove, cul-de- sac, gully, arch, bay, excavator, sapper, miner, honeycomb (sponge), depressed, alveolate, calathiform, cup-shaped, dishing, favaginous, faveolate, favose, scyphiform, scyphose, concave, hollow, stove in, retiring, retreating, cavernous, porous, infundibul, infundibular, infundibuliform, funnel shaped, bell shaped, campaniform, capsular, vaulted, arched.

Opening

N opening, hole, foramen, puncture, perforation, fontanel, transforation, pinhole, keyhole, loophole, porthole, peephole, mousehole, pigeonhole, eye of a needle, eyelet, slot, opening, aperture, apertness, hiation, yawning, oscitancy, dehiscence, patefaction, pandiculation, chasm, embrasure, window, casement, abatjour, light, sky light, fan light, lattice, bay window, bow window, oriel, dormer, lantern, outlet, inlet, vent, vomitory, embouchure, orifice, mouth, sucker, muzzle, throat, gullet, weasand, wizen, nozzle, placket, portal, porch, gate, ostiary, postern, wicket, trapdoor, hatch, door, arcade, cellarway, driveway, gateway, doorway, hatchway, gangway, lich gate, way, path, thoroughfare, channel, passage, passageway, tube, pipe, water pipe, air pipe, vessel, tubule, canal, gut, fistula, adjutage, ajutage, ostium, smokestack, chimney, flue, tap, funnel, gully, tunnel, main, mine, pit, adit, shaft, gallery, alley, aisle, glade, vista, bore, caliber, pore, blind orifice, fulgurite, thundertube, porousness, porosity, sieve, cullender, colander, cribble, riddle, screen, honeycomb, apertion, perforation, piercing, terebration, empalement, pertusion, puncture, acupuncture, penetration, key, opener, master key, password, combination, passe- partout, open, perforated, perforate, wide open, ajar, unclosed, unstopped, oscitant, gaping, yawning, patent, tubular, cannular, fistulous, pervious, permeable, foraminous, vesicular, vasicular, porous, follicular, cribriform, honeycombed, infundibular, riddled, tubulous, tubulated, piped, tubate, opening, aperient, Int, open sesame!.

Interment

N interment, burial, sepulture, inhumation, obsequies, exequies, funeral, wake, pyre, funeral pile, cremation, funeral, funeral rite, funeral solemnity, kneel, passing bell, tolling, dirge, cypress, orbit, dead march, muffled drum, mortuary, undertaker, mute, elegy, funeral, funeral oration, funeral sermon, epitaph, graveclothes, shroud, winding sheet, cerecloth, cerement, coffin, shell, sarcophagus, urn, pall, bier, hearse, catafalque, cinerary urn, grave, pit, sepulcher, tomb, vault, crypt, catacomb, mausoleum, Golgotha, house of death, narrow house, cemetery, necropolis, burial place, burial ground, grave yard, church yard, God's acre, tope, cromlech, barrow, tumulus, cairn, ossuary, bone house, charnel house, dead house, morgue, lich gate, burning ghat, crematorium, crematory, dokhma, mastaba, potter's field, stupa, Tower of Silence, sexton, gravedigger, monument, cenotaph, shrine, grave stone, head stone, tomb stone, memento mori, hatchment, stone, obelisk, pyramid, exhumation, disinterment, necropsy, autopsy, post mortem examination, zoothapsis, burried, burial, funereal, funebrial, mortuary, sepulchral, cinerary, elegiac, necroscopic, in memoriam, post obit, post mortem, beneath the sod, hic jacet, ci-git, RIP, requiescat in pace, the lone couch of his everlasting sleep, without a grave- unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown, in the dark union of insensate dust, the deep cold shadow of the tomb, Special Vitality.