bear pitn.
/ˈbɛː pɪt/, U.S. /ˈbɛr ˌpɪt/, Canadian English /ˈber ˌpɪt/ 1. A sunken enclosure in which bears are kept for exhibition; an entertainment venue used for the baiting of bears and other animals. Cf. bear garden n. 1.
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bear pit1820
1820 Morning Chron. 8 Sept. The wife of Altrich, keeper of the Bear-pit, in Tufton-street, Westminster, went to give water to a bear which happened to be left loose.
1833 Pop. Introd. Study Quadrupeds iii. 131 Time was when a maiden queen would honour the bear-pit with her presence, and witness scenes of unexampled and disgusting brutality.
1849 F. L. Mortimer Near Home 297 In the city [sc. Berne] there is a bear pit with three fat lazy living bears.
1862 F. Locker London Lyrics 66 (title) The Bear Pit at the Zoological Gardens.
2010 Jrnl.-Courier (Jacksonville, Illinois) 6 June 3/3 The bear pits are the second-oldest exhibit here at the zoo, and they have a lot of history.
2. figurative. A place or scene characterized by conflict, aggression, or fierce competition. Cf. bear garden n. 2.Frequently in political contexts.
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1859 Morning Post 10 Jan. 6/4 The rotten, selfish, strife-creating network of institutions, which have transformed the world into a bear-pit.
1889 N. Amer. Rev. Dec. 759 A session of Congress is a disorderly bedlam, a seat of idiotic gambols, a pathetic ambuscade of incompetency, a bear-pit of rascality.
1910 S. Kaye-Smith Spell Land (1923) viii. 76 Perhaps, having kept him so long in a tutor's study, it would have been as well never to have flung him into the bear-pit of school.
1998 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 23 Aug. (Late ed.) 29 I miss some academic life—teaching certainly and the companionship of some former colleagues but, on the whole, I am relieved and thankful to have escaped the bear-pit.
2013 FT Weekend 28 Sept. (Mag.) 18/1 The London Assembly..is not exactly the bearpit of prime minister's weekly questions in the House of Commons.
Compounds
Canadian. As a modifier, designating a meeting or event at which politicians, election candidates, etc., answer questions from members of the audience, typically on contentious issues. Chiefly in bear-pit session.
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1968 Brandon (Manitoba) Sun 24 Jan. 5/1 A ‘bear pit’ session is slated for the canteen on Thursday evening, when questions from the audience will be hurled at candidates.
1993 Medicine Hat (Alberta) News 30 July a12/2 The bear-pit forum will likely be a magnet for supporters of his six rivals..[who will] attempt to damage him with tough questions.
2018 Leader-Post (Regina, Sask.) (Nexis) 12 Mar. a4 Delegates will..have the chance to heap questions on members of his cabinet during a bear-pit session later that morning.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1820