pit
Pit (noun) means a hole or hollow in the ground. Example: “Workers dug a pit to lay the new foundation.”
How to Use Pit
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA hole in the ground, the stone inside a fruit, or (as a verb) to pit people/teams against each other, or remove a fruit's stone.
Word Forms
pitted past tense, pitted past tense, pitted past tense, pits plural, pits plural, pits singular, pits singular, pits singular
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
Workers dug a _____ to lay the new foundation.
Etymology
From Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, ultimately from Latin puteus ("trench, pit, well").
Related Words
Rhymes for pit
See all rhymes for pit →Frequently Asked Questions
What does “pit” mean?
The word “pit” means a hole or hollow in the ground. In plain terms, a hole in the ground, the stone inside a fruit, or (as a verb) to pit people/teams against each other, or remove a fruit's stone.
How do you pronounce “pit”?
“Pit” is pronounced piht (/pɪt/ in IPA).
How do you use “pit” in a sentence?
Here is “pit” used in a sentence: “Workers dug a pit to lay the new foundation.”
What part of speech is “pit”?
Depending on how it is used, “pit” can be a noun and a verb.
Where does the word “pit” come from?
The word “pit” comes from Latin. From Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, ultimately from Latin puteus ("trench, pit, well").
Is “pit” a common word?
“Pit” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.
How many meanings does “pit” have?
“Pit” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a hole or hollow in the ground.
What is the difference between a pit and a hole?
A pit is a hole or hollow in the ground, often deeper or more pronounced than a shallow hole. Pit specifically emphasises a hollow depression in the ground, whereas hole is a more general term for any opening or gap.
Is the pit of a peach the same as a seed?
The pit is the hard stone found inside certain fruits, such as peaches or cherries, and the actual seed sits inside that stone. In everyday speech people often call the whole hard centre the pit.
How can pit mean both a hole and part of a fruit?
Pit has two distinct noun senses. One is a hole or hollow in the ground, and the other is the hard stone inside fruits like peaches or cherries. Context makes clear which meaning is intended.