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.
          1913 webster

   2. any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades.
      1913 webster

            back to the infernal pit i drag thee chained.
                                                  --milton.
      1913 webster

            he keepth back his soul from the pit. --job xxxiii.
                                                  18.
      1913 webster

   3. a covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall;
      hence, a trap; a snare. also used figuratively.
      1913 webster

            the anointed of the lord was taken in their pits.
                                                  --lam. iv. 20.
      1913 webster

   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.
          1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   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.
          1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster
see also:
pit of the stomach cold pit pit coal pit frame pit head pit kiln 
pit martin pit saw pit stop pit viper working pit 

pit \pit\, v. t. imp.  p. p. pitted; p. pr.  vb. n.
   pitting.
   1. to place or put into a pit or hole.
      1913 webster

            they lived like beasts, and were pitted like beasts,
            tumbled into the grave.               --t. grander.
      1913 webster

   2. to mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as, a
      face pitted by smallpox.
      1913 webster

   3. to introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a
      contest; as, to pit one dog against another.
      1913 webster
see also:
pitted pitting 

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
     also: pitting, pitted
see also:
cavity fossa stone endocarp pitfall quarry 
stone pit orchestra pit colliery oppose match 
play off scar mark pock pitting 
pitted 

342 moby thesaurus words for "pit":
   american stock exchange, amex, l, r, wall street, abysm, abyss,
   acorn, acting area, agora, alveolation, alveolus, amphitheater,
   antrum, apron, apron stage, arena, armpit, athletic field,
   audience, auditorium, auditory, background, backstage, balcony,
   band shell, bandstand, bank, barrow, basin, bear garden,
   beehive tomb, berry, bird seed, birthmark, blackhead, bleb,
   blemish, blister, board, bone house, bourse, bowl, box, box grave,
   box seat, boxing ring, bridge, bull ring, bulla, burial,
   burial chamber, burial mound, campus, canvas, catacombs, cavity,
   cenotaph, charnel house, chasm, check, cicatrix, circus, cist,
   cist grave, coal mine, cockpit, coliseum, colliery, colosseum,
   comedo, commodity exchange, concave, concavity, congregation,
   corn pit, coulisse, counter, course, crack, crater, craze,
   crevasse, cromlech, crypt, cup, curb, curb exchange, curb market,
   deep, deep six, defacement, defect, deformation, deformity, dent,
   depress, depression, depth, dig, diggings, dimple, dint, dip,
   disfiguration, disfigurement, distortion, dock, dokhma, dolmen,
   dress circle, dressing room, engrave, excavation, exchange,
   exchange floor, fault, fauteuil, feel, field, finish, flaw,
   flaxseed, flies, floor, fly floor, fly gallery, fold, follicle,
   forestage, forum, freckle, fruit, funnel chest, furrow, gallery,
   gold mine, gouge, grain, granular texture, grave, greenroom, grid,
   gridiron, ground, groundling, gulf, gym, gymnasium, hall, hayseed,
   hemangioma, hickey, hippodrome, hole, hollow, hollow shell,
   honeycomb, house, house of death, impress, impression, imprint,
   indent, indentation, indention, indenture, keloid, kernel, kink,
   knub, lacuna, last home, lentigo, lightboard, linseed, lists,
   locale, loge, long home, low green tent, low house, marketplace,
   mastaba, mat, match, mausoleum, milieu, milium, mine, mole,
   monstrance, mummy chamber, nap, narrow house, needle scar, nevus,
   nigger heaven, notch, nub, nut, open cut, open forum, opencast,
   orchestra, orchestra circle, orchestra pit, ossuarium, ossuary,
   outside market, over-the-counter market, palaestra, parade ground,
   paradise, parquet, parquet circle, parterre, passage grave,
   peanut gallery, performing area, pile, pimple, pip, place,
   platform, pock, pocket, pockmark, port-wine mark, port-wine stain,
   precinct, press in, print, prize ring, proscenium,
   proscenium boxes, proscenium stage, protuberance, public square,
   punch, punch bowl, punch in, purlieu, pustule, pyramid, quarry,
   quotation board, range, recess, reliquary, resting place, rift,
   ring, scab, scar, scene, scene of action, scenery, scoop, scratch,
   sebaceous cyst, seed, sepulcher, set back, set in, setting, shaft,
   shaft grave, shag, shell, shrine, sink, sinus, site, socket,
   spectator, sphere, split, squared circle, stadium, stage,
   stage left, stage right, stage set, stage setting, stall, stamp,
   standing room, stock exchange, stock market, stock ticker, stone,
   strawberry mark, structure, stupa, sty, sunken part, surface,
   surface texture, switchboard, tamp, telephone market, terrain,
   texture, the big board, the exchange, the boards, theater,
   theatre stall, third market, ticker, ticker tape, tilting ground,
   tiltyard, tomb, tope, tower of silence, track, trough, tumulus,
   twist, vault, verruca, vesicle, vie, vug, wale, walk, warp, wart,
   weal, weave, well, welt, wen, wheat pit, whitehead, wings, woof,
   workings, wrestling ring, yawning abyss

pit
     programmable interval timer
     
     

pit
     
        language for ibm 650.  see it.
     
     
see also:
it 

pit
   a hole in the ground ex. 21:33, 34, a cistern for water gen.
   37:24; jer. 14:3, a vault 41:9, a grave ps. 30:3. it is
   used as a figure for mischief ps. 9:15, and is the name given
   to the unseen place of woe rev. 20:1, 3. the slime-pits in the
   vale of siddim were wells which yielded asphalt gen. 14:10.
   

pit, fossa. a hole dug in the earth, which was filled with water, and in 
which women thieves were drowned, instead of being hung. the punishment of 
the pit was formerly common in scotland.