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pits

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.
pit 1  (pt)
n.
1. A natural or artificial hole or cavity in the ground.
2.
a. An excavation for the removal of mineral deposits; a mine.
b. The shaft of a mine.
3. A concealed hole in the ground used as a trap; a pitfall.
4.
a. Hell.
b. A miserable or depressing place or situation.
c. pits Slang The worst. Used with the: "New York politics are the pits" (Washington Star).
5. A small indentation in a surface: pits in a windshield.
6.
a. A natural hollow or depression in the body or an organ.
b. A small indented scar left in the skin by smallpox or other eruptive disease; a pockmark.
c. Informal An armpit. Often used in the plural.
7. An enclosed, usually sunken area in which animals, such as dogs or gamecocks, are placed for fighting.
8.
a. The section directly in front of and below the stage of a theater, in which the musicians sit.
b. Chiefly British The ground floor of a theater behind the stalls.
9.
a. The section of an exchange where trading in a specific commodity is carried on.
b. The gambling area of a casino.
10.
a. A sunken area in a garage floor from which mechanics may work on cars.
b. Sports An area beside an auto racecourse where cars may be refueled or serviced during a race. Used with the. Often used in the plural.
11. Football The middle areas of the defensive and offensive lines.
12. Botany A cavity in the wall of a plant cell where there is no secondary wall, as in fibers, tracheids, and vessels.
v. pit·ted, pit·ting, pits
v.tr.
1. To mark with cavities, depressions, or scars: a surface pitted with craters.
2. To set in direct opposition or competition: a war that pitted brother against brother.
3. To place, bury, or store in a pit.
v.intr.
1. To become marked with pits.
2. To retain an impression after being indented. Used of the skin.
3. To stop at a refueling area during an auto race.

[Middle English, from Old English pytt, ultimately from Latin puteus, well; see pau-2 in Indo-European roots.]

pit 2  (pt)
n.
The single central kernel or stone of certain fruits, such as a peach or cherry.
tr.v. pit·ted, pit·ting, pits
To extract the pit from (a fruit).

[Dutch, from Middle Dutch.]

pits [pɪts]
pl n
Slang the. the worst possible person, place, or thing
[perhaps shortened from armpits]


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
In that case my end would be no more certain, though infinitely more horrible and painful, for in the pits I should be subjected to cruel vivisection.
The men took positions behind a curv- ing line of rifle pits that had been turned up, like a large furrow, along the line of woods.
He ordered me to be thrown into one of the great pits in the inner gardens.
 
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