pit
17 synonyms for pit, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A hole or hollow in the ground.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
A hole or hollow in the ground.
“The children jumped over the muddy pit behind the old barn.”
How to use pit
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
pit someone against
dig a pit
pit a cherry
Etymology
From Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, ultimately from Latin puteus ("trench, pit, well").
Full origin of 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.
