pit

noun26

1. •
   a deep opening going down into the ground, often made by digging

   • The meadow around the town is full of old pits.
2. •
   A mine.
3. •
   A hole or trench in the ground, excavated according to grid coordinates, so that the provenance of any feature observed and any specimen or artifact revealed may be established by precise measurement.
4. •
   A seed inside a fruit; a stone or pip inside a fruit.
5. •
   An area at a racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a race.

   • Two drivers have already gone into the pit this early in the race.
6. •
   (figurative) A bleak, depressing state of mind.

   • He was in a pit of despair.
7. •
   (informal) An undesirable location, especially an unclean one.

   • This house is a total pit. We've got to do some cleaning!
8. •
   (slang) A mosh pit.

   • Because the museum was closed for renovation, the school decided to bring its fourth-graders to the pit at a Cannibal Corpse gig instead.
9. •
   (informal) A pit bull terrier.

   • I resolved to find all my pits good homes and to get out of the rescue and breeding business. — 2012
10. •
    A small surface hole or depression, a fossa.
11. •
    The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.
12. •
    In tracheary elements, a section of the cell wall where the secondary wall is missing, and the primary wall is present. Pits generally occur in pairs and link two cells.
13. •
    On a compact disc or similar recording medium, a tiny sunken area representing part of the encoded data.
14. •
    Formerly, that part of a theatre, 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 theatre.
15. •
    An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.

    • as fiercely as two game-cocks in the pit — 1693
16. •
    A trading pit.
17. •
    Part of a casino which typically holds tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and other games.
18. •
    (informal) An armpit.
19. •
    The grave, underworld or Hell.

    • Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained. — 1667
20. •
    The core of an implosion nuclear weapon, consisting of the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it.

    • [...] weapons "pits" (the plutonium components of nuclear weapons, named by analogy with the pit of a fruit such as a peach), [...]. — 1996
21. •
    (slang) A bed.

    • Many Bacardi & Cokes later I climbed up into my pit and fell into a deep sleep, and woke up at one thirty in the morning and threw up my tea. — 2009
22. •
    The section of a marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to be marched, such as the tam-tam; the front ensemble. Can also refer to the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.
23. •
    (slang) The emergency department of a hospital.
24. •
    A luggage hold.
25. •
    The center of the line.

    • The ball carrier can be with or without a football. For the “Head-On” tackle have the “Ball Carrier” stand right in front of the pit and face the tackler. — 2007
26. •
    Short for dish pit

    • Get back to the pit, dish bitch!

verb6

1. •
   To put (an animal) into a pit for fighting.
2. •
   To bring (something) into opposition with something else.

   • Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?
3. •
   To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.

   • Bottas had to pit earlier than expected for fresh tyres. Hamilton followed him in next time around and the two drivers were instructed to stay off the kerbs to protect their tyres. — 2020
4. •
   To remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.

   • One must pit a peach to make it ready for a pie.
5. •
   To make pits in; to mark with little hollows.

   • Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal.
6. •
   To use the PIT maneuver, especially during a car chase.

noun5

1. •
   Initialism of precision immobilization technique: a method for ending car chases by causing a controlled collision, forcing the pursued car into a spin.
2. •
   Initialism of pursuit intervention technique: the same method for ending car chases.
3. •
   Initialism of parallel immobilization technique: the same method for ending car chases.
4. •
   Initialism of personal income tax.
5. •
   Initialism of programmable interval timer.