From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
pit
n 1: a sizeable hole (usually in the ground); "they dug a pit to
bury the body" [syn: cavity]
2: a concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical
depression) [syn: fossa]
3: the hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some
fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that
contains the seed; "you should remove the stones from
prunes before cooking" [syn: stone, endocarp]
4: a trap in the form of a concealed hole [syn: pitfall]
5: a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate; "a
British term for `quarry' is `stone pit'" [syn: quarry,
stone pit]
6: lowered area in front of a stage where an orchestra
accompanies the performers [syn: orchestra pit]
7: a workplace consisting of a coal mine plus all the buildings
and equipment connected with it [syn: colliery]
v 1: set into opposition or rivalry; "let them match their best
athletes against ours"; "pit a chess player against the
Russian champion"; "He plays his two children off
against each other" [syn: oppose, match, play off]
2: mark with a scar; "The skin disease scarred his face
permanently" [syn: scar, mark, pock]
3: remove the pits from; "pit plums and cherries" [syn:
stone]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pit \Pit\, n. [OE. pit, put, AS. pytt a pit, hole, L. puteus a
well, pit.]
1. A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or
artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an
indentation; specifically:
(a) The shaft of a coal mine; a coal pit.
(b) A large hole in the ground from which material is dug
or quarried; as, a stone pit; a gravel pit; or in
which material is made by burning; as, a lime pit; a
charcoal pit.
(c) A vat sunk in the ground; as, a tan pit.
[1913 Webster]
Tumble me into some loathsome pit. --Shak.
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2. Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades.
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Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained.
--Milton.
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He keepth back his soul from the pit. --Job xxxiii.
18.
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3. A covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall;
hence, a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively.
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The anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits.
--Lam. iv. 20.
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4. A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body;
as:
(a) The hollow place under the shoulder or arm; the
axilla, or armpit.
(b) See Pit of the stomach (below).
(c) The indentation or mark left by a pustule, as in
smallpox.
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5. Formerly, that part of a theater, 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 theater.
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6. An inclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other
animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to
kill rats. "As fiercely as two gamecocks in the pit."
--Locke.
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7. [Cf. D. pit, akin to E. pith.] (Bot.)
(a) The endocarp of a drupe, and its contained seed or
seeds; a stone; as, a peach pit; a cherry pit, etc.
(b) A depression or thin spot in the wall of a duct.
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Cold pit (Hort.), an excavation in the earth, lined with
masonry or boards, and covered with glass, but not
artificially heated, -- used in winter for the storing and
protection of half-hardly plants, and sometimes in the
spring as a forcing bed.
Pit coal, coal dug from the earth; mineral coal.
Pit frame, the framework over the shaft of a coal mine.
Pit head, the surface of the ground at the mouth of a pit
or mine.
Pit kiln, an oven for coking coal.
Pit martin (Zool.), the bank swallow. [Prov. Eng.]
Pit of the stomach (Anat.), the depression on the middle
line of the epigastric region of the abdomen at the lower
end of the sternum; the infrasternal depression.
Pit saw (Mech.), a saw worked by two men, one of whom
stands on the log and the other beneath it. The place of
the latter is often in a pit, whence the name.
pit stop, See pit stop in the vocabulary.
Pit viper (Zool.), any viperine snake having a deep pit on
each side of the snout. The rattlesnake and copperhead are
examples.
Working pit (Min.), a shaft in which the ore is hoisted and
the workmen carried; -- in distinction from a shaft used
for the pumps.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pit \Pit\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pitted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Pitting.]
1. To place or put into a pit or hole.
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They lived like beasts, and were pitted like beasts,
tumbled into the grave. --T. Grander.
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2. To mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as, a
face pitted by smallpox.
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3. To introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a
contest; as, to pit one dog against another.
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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
PIT
Language for IBM 650. (See IT).