pit

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈpɪt/ UK /pɪt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like peat /ɪ/ vs /iː/ Sounds like pith /θ/ vs /t/

Freq #3341

Meanings

1

noun
A large hole in the ground.

They dug a deep pit to plant the tree.
2

noun
The area beside a racetrack where cars stop for fuel and repairs during a race.

The driver came into the pit to change his tyres.
3

noun
A place where stone or coal is dug out of the ground; a mine or quarry.

His grandfather worked in the coal pit for forty years.
4

verb
To remove the hard seed from a fruit.

You need to pit the cherries before making the pie.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a large hole in the ground. cavity

3 noun · a place where stone or coal... quarry

4 verb · to remove the hard seed... stone

Word family

Forms pitspittedpitting

Derived forms armpitashpitcatchpitcesspitchalkpitcharpitclaypitcoalpitcockpitcorn-piteye-pitfirepit

Appears in

Phrases (3)

See all

bottomless pit
a hole so deep that its bottom cannot be seen or seems not to exist

Adjective + noun
gravel pit
a quarry where gravel is dug out of the ground

Noun + noun
pit viper
a venomous snake with heat-sensitive pits on its head

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Pit meaning a large hole comes ultimately from Latin puteus, “well shaft.” The North American word for a fruit stone was borrowed from Dutch in the 19th century and is related to Old English pith. The verb meaning “set against in conflict” arose from the practice of putting fighting animals together in a pit or enclosure.

Etymology

From Dutch pit (“kernel, core”), from Middle Dutch pitte, from Proto-Germanic *pittan (compare dialectal German Pfitze (“pimple”)), oblique of Proto-Germanic *piþō. Compare pith.

pit Dutch pitte Middle Dutch *pittan Proto-Germanic *piþō Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# pit

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /pɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 3341

## Meanings
1. A large hole in the ground.
2. The area beside a racetrack where cars stop for fuel and repairs during a race.
3. A place where stone or coal is dug out of the ground; a mine or quarry.
4. To remove the hard seed from a fruit.

## Examples
- They dug a deep pit to plant the tree.
- The driver came into the pit to change his tyres.
- His grandfather worked in the coal pit for forty years.
- You need to pit the cherries before making the pie.

## Derived Forms
- armpit
- ashpit
- catchpit
- cesspit
- chalkpit
- charpit
- claypit
- coalpit
- cockpit
- corn-pit
- eye-pit
- firepit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pit
- Root: pitte
- Root: *pittan
- Root: *piþō

## Etymology
From Dutch pit (“kernel, core”), from Middle Dutch pitte, from Proto-Germanic *pittan (compare dialectal German Pfitze (“pimple”)), oblique of Proto-Germanic *piþō. Compare pith.

## AI Etymology
Pit comes from Dutch pit (“kernel, core”), from Middle Dutch pitte, from Proto-Germanic *pittan (compare dialectal German Pfitze (“pimple”)), oblique of Proto-Germanic *piþō. Compare pith. The historical chain includes pit (Dutch), pitte (Middle Dutch), *pittan (Proto-Germanic), *piþō (Proto-Germanic). In present-day English it covers a large hole in the ground, the area beside a racetrack where cars stop for fuel and repairs during a race, and a place where stone or coal is dug out of the ground; a mine or quarry. The wider family includes derived forms such as armpit, ashpit, catchpit, cesspit, chalkpit.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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pit