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pitn.1 Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian pett (West Frisian pet), Middle Dutch put, pit, pet, putte, pitte (in Old Dutch in a place name; Dutch put, Dutch regional pit), Middle Low German pütte, putte, pütten (German regional (Low German) pütte, pütt), Old High German pfuzzi, puzzi (Middle High German phütze, pfütze, German Pfütze), Old Icelandic pyttr, Swedish regional pytt, Danish pyt < a Germanic base, apparently < classical Latin puteus well, pit, shaft, of unknown origin. Compare also (from the same Germanic base) Old High German pfuzza, puzza (feminine), Old Swedish potter (masculine), and Norwegian regional (chiefly south-eastern) putt, Swedish regional putt, all apparently representing by-forms without following -i- in Germanic.It has also been suggested that this is a native word in Germanic and cognate with German regional (Westphalia) pôt puddle and Norwegian regional pøyta puddle. In sense 18 perhaps by confusion with pot n.1 (compare pot n.2). Middle English forms such as put (see α. forms) represent the regular development of Old English y in the west midlands and the south-west, but may also reflect Middle Dutch influence. Among the β. forms, Old English forms such as pit show rare cases of unrounding of Old English y ( < *u by i-mutation), while the later Middle English forms show the regular development in the east and north, and northern Scots put reflects a recent retraction of earlier i . In the γ. forms, the Middle English and later forms from the south-east of England show the regular development of the reflex of Old English y in the south-east, while Scots forms such as pet show a lowering of i. I. A hole in the ground, and related senses. the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > extension downwards or depth > [noun] > great or considerable depth > deep place, part, or thing eOE Bounds (Sawyer 298) in D. Hooke (1994) 105 Ærest on merce cumb ðonne on grenan pytt. OE (Corpus Cambr.) xii. 11 Hwylc man ys of eow þe hæbbe an sceap, & gyf þæt afylð restedagum on pytt hu ne nymð he þæt & hefþ hyt upp. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 47 (MED) Missus est ieremias in puteum et stetit ibi..ieremie þe prophete stod in ane putte. a1250 (?a1200) (Titus) (1963) 6 Forþi was ihaten..iþe alde lahe þat put [a1500 Royal pytte] were eauere ihulet, & ȝif anj vnhulede þe put [a1500 Royal pitt] & beast fel þer in, he hit schulde ȝelde. a1325 (?c1300) (Cambr. Gg.1.1) 1541 (MED) Þe rode a reriden vp anon; Vpon þe mount of Caluarie..A setten it in a dep pitte. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 2500 (MED) Four kinges werraud a pon fiue..Þe fiue gaue bak..And fell to in a pitt o clay. a1450 (Richardson 44) (1884) 51 (MED) He þat fedde danyel þe prophet in þe pytte of lyouns cessed not to fede these dayes þis innocent mayde. 1526 W. Bonde iii. sig. ciiiiv That no man shulde dyg any pytte..but he shulde couer it agayne. 1594 W. Shakespeare ii. iii. 193 The lothsome pit, Where I espied the Panther fast a sleepe. View more context for this quotation 1611 Jer. ii. 6 A land of deserts and of pittes . View more context for this quotation 1671 Welsh Trav. 31 in W. C. Hazlitt (1864) IV. 332 Poor Taffie fell immediately into a great deep pit. 1744 J. Miller 5 Hereupon they take an Opportunity, when they were one Day in the Field together, to throw him first into a Pit. 1781 (Royal Soc.) 70 480 Digging a pit into the sand..into which the water filtrates from all sides. 1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud i. ii, in 2 There in the ghastly pit..a body was found. 1947 S. J. Perelman ii. 20 All that greeted me was a yawning pit trimmed with guano and eggshells. 1986 July (front cover) Sleeping in a pit or on a slope will, almost invariably, cause muscle strain and pain. the world > the earth > water > body of water > place where animals obtain water > [noun] > water-hole the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > well OE (Northumbrian) iv. 12 Numquid tu maior es patre nostro iacob qui dedit nobis puteum istum et ipse ex eo bibit : ahne arðu mara feder usum iacobe seðe salde us ðiosne pytt uel wælla & he of him dranc. OE Wærferð tr. Gregory (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iii. xvi. 214 Hi heom wæter hlodon of anum pytte to bryce heora lifes, ac gelomlice wæs tobrocen se rap, in þam hangode se stoppa, þe man þæt wæter mid hlod. c1175 ( (Bodl. 343) (1894) 14 Nim þæt water of þan ylcan putte ðe he ær of dronc. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) 7965 Þa þa water wes al ilædden & þe put wes ilær, þa comen ut þas tweien draken. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 8465 (MED) Hii..slowe so moni sarazins..Þat alle þe wateres..aboute þe toun were, & diches & puttes, rede of blode þere. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 429 At Basyngwere is a welle... In þe welmes..Is y-founde reed splekked stones In tokene of blood reed Þat þe mayde Wynefrede Schadde at þat putte. c1400 (?a1300) (Laud) (1952) 5755 (MED) Hij founden many lake and pett Wiþ trowes and þornes byshett. c1450 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Complaint Black Knight (Fairf.) 92 in (1934) ii. 386 Ne lyche the pitte of the Pegace Vnder Parnaso, wher poetys slept. c1475 (?c1400) (1842) 25 (MED) Þe welle mai not bring forþ of o pitte bitter water & swete. 1530 J. Palsgrave 254/2 Pytte or well. 1611 Lev. xi. 36 A fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean. View more context for this quotation 1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay ii. 154 The comon Sergeants are sent with hooks to throw them into the next pit of water, or Ditch, vnburied. 1669 J. Worlidge 189 You may sink a Well or Pit near your Cellar,..somewhat lower,..into which you place a Pump,..that at such times as water annoys you, it may by that means be removed. 1750 B. Franklin Let. 13 Feb. in (1887) II. 164 They waited for a fire-engine from England to drain their pits. 1799 A. Young i. 15 In the parishes of Tetney, Fulstow, and that vicinity, blow-wells, which are deep flowing pits of clear water, which flow in considerable streams. 1884 15 Mar. 395 It was in summer, and the ponds—pits we call them in Arcady—were very low. 1940 96 261 Occasional deep lows, locally called pits and containing water, are scattered about amongst the shingle. 2004 (Nexis) 18 Mar. The spring-fed ponds (known locally as pits) first attracted the ancient Britons, and continued to support communities throughout history. 3. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > [noun] eOE Bounds (Sawyer 552) in S. E. Kelly (2000) 181 Þonon ut on þa lampyttas on þane crundel of ðam crundele on þone æsc. lOE Bounds (Sawyer 608) in W. de G. Birch (1893) III. 157 Of deoh holes hyllæ on þonæ cealc pyt swa ford wyð þonne weg westan. a1382 (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xiv. 10 Þe wody valey..hadde many pyttez of glewysch cley [a1425 L.V. pittis of pitche; 1535 Coverdale slyme pyttes; 1885 R.V. slime pits]. c1390 G. Chaucer 3460 He walked in the feeldes for to prye Vpon the sterres what ther sholde bifalle Til he was in a marle pit [v.rr. Marleput, Marle pitte, marbil pyt] yfalle. (Harl. 221) 80 Cleypytte, argillarium. ?c1475 (BL Add. 15562) f. 65 A Clay pitt [1483 BL Add. 89074 Clapitte], argillarium. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta iv. iv. 213 The golde..is found in pittes or mines. 1617 F. Moryson iii. ii. iii. 80 Minerall Salt (which in Poland they dig out of pits like great stones). a1698 W. Blundell (1880) 251 The pits where lead is digged, in Derbyshire, are called grooves. 1723 D. Defoe (ed. 2) 341 A little kind of a Gravel-pit, or Marl pit. 1848 9 i. 242 It is not at all uncommon to see a clay pit stand with water. 1878 T. Hardy I. i. ix. 172 The pursuit of the trade meant periodical journeys to the pit whence the material was dug. 1979 J. Harvey vii. 35 They sat down beside the artificial lake filling the largest pit, in the shadow of an old crane. 1986 O. Rackham xvi. 371 Typical marlpits are in the middle of fields, one pit per field: pits in the corner of fields would double the labour of cartage. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > coal-mine society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > excavated area > of coal-mine society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > shaft > of coal-mine 1447 in J. Raine (1839) p. cccxiii The colepit in Trillesden, and alsa the colepit in Spennyngmore. 1575 in G. J. Piccope (1860) II. 112 Whereas I have a lease..of too cole pittes. 1669 (Royal Soc.) 4 967 There being in these Mines an incredible mass of wood to support the Pitts and the Horizontal passages. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 8 in T. Nourse (ed. 3) If 1000 l. or more be spent in carrying down a Pit or Shaft. 1725 T. Thomas in (Hist. MSS Comm.) VI. 106 That pit through which they bring up the coal..is called the shaft. 1774 O. Goldsmith I. 81 They were resolved to renew their work in the same pit, and eight of them ventured down..but they had scarce got to the bottom of the stairs that led to the pit..[when] they all instantly dropped down dead. 1845 B. Disraeli III. vi. vi. 211 ‘He's a pretty fellow to come and talk to us,’ said a collier. ‘He had never been down a pit in all his life.’ 1849 G. C. Greenwell 38 Pit, a circular, oval, square, or oblong vertical sinking from the surface. The term shaft..is often used as synonymous. 1867 W. W. Smyth 118 The pits are 515 yards deep to the ‘top hard’ seam. 1928 D. H. Lawrence xiii. 215 The larks were trilling away over the park, the distant pit in the hollow was fuming silent steam. a1974 B. L. Coombes Home on Hill in B. Jones & C. Williams (1999) viii. 53 The morning after pay day saw Latimer waiting outside the undermanager's office before going down the pit. 1995 27 July 26/3 When closing 30 mines he said there was no market for coal then later claimed the industry was thriving since privatisation of the pits. 4. society > occupation and work > workplace > places for working with specific materials > place for working with wood > [noun] > hole over which wood is sawn OE Bounds (Sawyer 772) in W. de G. Birch (1893) III. 517 Of þære dic on þone ealdan coll pytt þær þa þreo gemæru togædere gaþ. lOE Bounds (Sawyer 960) in J. M. Kemble (1846) IV. 27 Forð bæ hæselholtæ on collpytt, of collpyttæ on swealewan hlypan. c1425 Edward, Duke of York (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 17 (MED) Whan here he nedes [perh. read hedes] bene burnysshed at þe Coliers puttes, comonly þei bene blak alway..and whan þei bene burnysshed agayn Roche, þan þei abiden al white. 1589 J. Lyly sig. Cv (margin) Martin & his mainteiner are both sawers of timber, but Martin stands in the pit. 1616 in J. R. Walbran (1863) I. 365 The tanhouse..with..the pits there. 1663 B. Gerbier 25 The Sawyers at their Pit. 1749 (Royal Soc.) 45 545 Most People who make Pot-ash, burn their Wood in Kilns, or Pits dug in the Ground. 1760 G. Washington 19 Feb. (1925) I. 127 Mike and Tom began sawing in the Pit some considerable time after Sun rise and Cut 122 feet of oak Scantling. 1875 E. H. Knight Pit... (Founding), a cavity or hollow scooped in the floor to receive cast-metal..a vat in tanning, bleaching, dyeing, or in washing alum earth, etc. 1881 9 163 Pit,..a stack or meiler of wood, prepared for the manufacture of charcoal. 1888 F. T. Elworthy (at cited word) Sawyers very often speak of putting up a pit, that is, of erecting a framework on posts or other supports above ground, on which to place the ‘piece’ to be sawn. 1944 (Soc. Amer. Foresters) 53/2 Pit, a hole in which the pit sawyer stands when whip-sawing lumber. 1994 C. R. Lounsbury 275 Two sawyers—one on top of the log and one in the pit—use a whip or pit saw to cut the log into separate pieces. the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > pitting or clamping > pit or clamp c1500 in T. H. Turner (1851) I. 144 Take many rype walenottes..& put hem in a moiste pytt, & hile hem. 1810 I. 39 Scrambling over the pine-pit, he sheered off. 1813 R. Kerr 293 A pit or pie, is a conical heap of potatoes..resting upon the dry bare ground..carefully covered by a layer of straw..the earth thrown over the straw [etc.]. 1866 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox (new ed.) II. 913/1 They are..what are called cold pits, which means that they are not artificially heated, and are used for the protection in winter of hardy and half-hardy plants. 1895 W. C. Scully 102 By probing with their spears..the men easily found the flat stones covering the mouths of the underground corn-pits. 1915 F. S. Harris & G. Stewart 235 The potatoes are..loaded loose into wagons to be hauled away and sold or stored in pits or cellars. 1951 (Royal Hort. Soc.) IV. 1826/1 The more tender Tea varieties are better wintered in a cold pit or house. 2001 (Nexis) 10 Nov. 3 It's much more pleasant to collect your vegetables from a pit in the winter, rather than having to dig them from frosty or muddy soil. 5. the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > [noun] OE Homily: Sunnandæges Spell (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier (1883) 208 Gelæste man a þone sawelsceat æt openum pytte. ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 93 Ha schulde schrapien uche de þeorðe up of hare Put. þet ha schule rotien inne..þe put deð muche god. moni ancre. for..þ[eo] þe haueð eauer hire deað as bi foren hire echnen. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) 15894 Swiðe heo gunnen deȝe, þat ofte in þan putte þer me þene dede isette, þer deiȝede þe quike uppen þen dede. ?a1300 (Digby 86) (1973) 86 Þe seueþe dai shulen arisen, so þe boc ous tolde, Hof here putte heuer ilke boþe ȝonge and holde. c1395 G. Chaucer 1401 He seyde, ‘freendes I am hoor and old And almoost, god woot, on my pittes brynke.’ a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Lamb.) (1887) i. 16449 Ȝyf any had leyd a cors in pyt, Hym self fel þanne ded þer-myt. a1483 in (1887) 50 51 (MED) Thei shal..suffer no grave nor pitte to be made in the procession way. 1565 T. Stapleton tr. Bede v. iii. f. 155v She..semed to be almost dead and at the pitts brimme. 1581 T. Newton tr. Seneca Thebais i, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca f. 41 Wel I know it lotted is to be my graue and Pit. 1608 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 209 And soone lie Richard in an earthy pit. 1611 Psalms xxx. 3 O Lord..thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit . View more context for this quotation 1635 J. Reynolds (new ed.) vi. xxvii. 378 These two Factors of Hell likewise beginne to provide for his buriall; so a little after two of the clocke, they digge a pit in Adrians Orchard. 1716 J. Perry 155 The Trunks of their Bodies..were order'd to be..cast into a Pit with common Rogues and Thieves. 1884 at May, Thomas At the Restoration his body was taken up..and buried in a pit in the yard of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. 1989 1 Aug. c7 Several of the well-preserved graves were stacked with more than one coffin and one pit held the remains of a young woman and two infants. 2003 (Nexis) 23 Mar. 62 350 of the 450 passengers and crew were drowned. As the naked and mutilated bodies washed ashore, they were buried in a common pit. the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > pit trap OE Bounds (Sawyer 255) in D. Hooke (1994) 87 Of grenan wege on wulfpyt, of wulfpytte on stream. lOE Bounds (Sawyer 446) in W. de G. Birch (1887) II. 460 To domnæs hlincæ þonon to þam wylf pyttæ. c1425 Edward, Duke of York (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 18 (MED) Men taken hem wiþ houndis, wiþ greihoundis, with nettis, and wiþ cordes, and with oþer harnays, wiþ puttes and wiþ shott, and with oþere gynnes, and with strengthe. a1450–1509 (?a1300) (A-version) (1913) 4119 Doun ȝe scholden fallen þere, Jn a pyt syxty fadme deep; þerffore bewar... At þe passyng ouyr þe trappe Many on has had full euyl happe. 1515 A. Barclay tr. B. Spagnuoli (1955) 92 A shalowe pyt, can nat kepe in, in cage, An hart, or lyon, or lyke great beste sauage. c1540 (?a1400) 5610 And pals haue þai pight, with pittis and caves, And other wilis of werre. 1611 Ezek. xix. 4 He [sc. a young lion] was taken in their pit . View more context for this quotation 1662 lix. 34 For every Woolf destroyed, by Pit, Trap, or otherwise, Two hundred pounds of Tobacco. 1735 W. Somervile iii. 232 Low in the Ground A Pit they sink. 1834 T. Medwin I. 62 If a fox escapes from a pit, none are ever taken again in the same. 1895 W. C. Scully 120 Kondwana the induna,..and one other, had fallen into an old elephant-pit, the surface of which was completely covered over with brushwood. 1976 3 Apr. 17/3 Dig a pit and animals will fall into it! 2000 (Nexis) 3 Dec. 37 They would dig pits to trap the wolf. society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > dungeon c1300 St. Vincent (Laud) 105 in C. Horstmann (1887) 187 (MED) Heo setten him in a swyþe deork put þat in þe gayhole was, So ful of sweordes pointes i-piȝte ase Mede is ful of gras. c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) 1431 (MED) A dede Beues binde to a ston gret..And het him caste in to prisoun Þat twenti teise was dep adoun..Now is Beues at þis petes grounde. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. x. 72 (MED) The most needy aren oure neighebores..As prisones in puttes and poure folke in Cotes. a1450 (Faust.) (1883) 4397 (MED) He was..cast doun in to þe deppust putte Of þe gret castellys of Salisbury dunchone. 1512 c. 8 Preamble The said Richard was taken and imprisoned in a doungen and a depe pytt under grounde. 1588 in D. Masson (1881) 1st Ser. IV. 284 [They] tuke him..to the said schireffis Castle.., putt him in the pitt thairof, quhairin thay held and detenit him. 1672 in M. P. Brown (1826) II. 159 He..put them in his pit, in prison, three days. 1761 Chron. in 61 The very pit, where the felons are confined at night. 1816 W. Scott Old Mortality ix, in 1st Ser. II. 225 I will cause Harrison..look for the key of our pit, or principal dungeon. 1885 Jer. xxxviii. 6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon [margin or pit] of Malchiah. 1910 G. S. Davies ii. 301 The unhappy Floridus asserted his innocence, but yielded to torture. He was thrown into the pit or dungeon of S. Angelo. 2004 (Nexis) 2 Mar. 13 When the boy visited him, he encourage him to..dig with him another 3ft down to make a dungeon... [He] then enticed the youngster into the pit. the world > the supernatural > deity > hell > [noun] > as pit or abyss OE King Ælfred tr. (Paris) (2001) xxix. 2 Drihten, min God, ic clypode to þe, and þu..atuge mine sawle of neolnessum and of helle, and me gehældest fram þæra geferscipe þe feollon on pytt. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) 12059 Þatt hill..Bitacneþþ modiȝnesse Þatt warrp þe deofell all wiþþ rihht Ut off þe blisse off heoffne Inntill þe grund off hellepitt. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 49 (MED) Non claudit super te puteus os suum..þe put ne tuneð noht lihtliche his muð ouer us. a1275 in C. Brown (1932) 25 He bringet us alle in-to is blis superni; he hauet i-dut þe foule put inferni. ?c1335 in W. Heuser (1904) 112 (MED) Al in helle were ifast, Fort Iesus Crist þroȝ is miȝte, Of þe pit vte he ham cast. c1390 G. Chaucer 170 Vnder hym the horrible pit of helle open to destroyen hym. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 22055 (MED) An angel, he sais, i sagh..Wit a mikel cheigne in hand And bar þe kai o þe mikel pijt [rhyme writt]. a1475 in C. Brown (1939) 125 (MED) Herrod dyyd and went to hell..And yne þe depyste pytte he fell. a1500 (c1410) (Hunterian) (1976) i. 187 (MED) God schal..sendyn hem into þe pyt of helle. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 173 Quhone na hous is bot hell and hevin, Palice of lycht or pit obscure. 1526 Rev. ix. 1 And to him was geven the kaye of the bottomlesse pytt. 1604 W. Shakespeare iv. v. 130 Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit I dare damnation. View more context for this quotation 1678 J. Bunyan 76 The Hobgoblins, Satyrs, and Dragons of the Pit . View more context for this quotation 1776 E. Gibbon I. xv. 463 Those rebellious spirits who had been degraded from the rank of angels, and cast down into the infernal pit. 1827 R. Pollok II. x. 249 Into the yawning pit Of bottomless perdition. 1872 J. Morley i. 4 To unmask a demon from the depths of the pit. 1892 3 Sept. 289/1 Such a one..might take the path that leads to the pit. 1939 V. Fisher i. vii. 64 You come like fiends out of the infernal pit. Shame upon you! 1988 L. Martz & G. Carroll ii. 25 The god that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider..over the fire, abhors you. the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > difficult state of things > predicament or straits > from which it is difficult to be extricated eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory (Hatton) (1871) lvii. 439 Ðæt hi for hire upahæfennesse ne befeallen on ðone pytt ofermetta. OE King Ælfred tr. (Paris) (2001) xxxix. 1 He..alædde me fram þam pytte ælcra yrmða. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham (1902) 147 Dauyd ous to wyten deþ In boke, þat Godes domes beþ A groundlyas pet [L. abyssus]. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vii. 4827 (MED) Bot if my wisshes myhte availe, I wolde it were a groundles pet, Be so the Siege were unknet. c1475 tr. C. de Pisan (Cambr.) (1977) 82 (MED) Manis good fortune blyndeth hym so..that he can not knowe himselfe..and aftirwarde castith him downe in to his orrible pitte [Fr. fosse]. a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) vii. 16 Incidit in foueam quam fecit..he fell in the pit that he made. 1531 H. Latimer Let. Dec. in J. Foxe (1563) 1331/1 To follow blind guides is to com into the pit with the same. 1535 Prov. xxii. B The mouth of an harlot is a depe pytt. 1577 tr. ‘F. de L'Isle’ sig. Hiij That..you fall not into any such bottomles pit of debts. 1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton iv. iv. 53 He fals himselfe that digs anothers pit. 1651 A. Weamys 186 Never was I yet in the Turret of felicitie, but I have stumbled, and fell to the pit of adversitie. 1722 D. Defoe i. ii. 45 I would not fall into the Pit with my Eyes open. 1773 R. Graves I. ii. 205 He shook his head at the conclusion of it, and said, ‘that the Law was a bottomless pit, as the Exciseman used to say’. 1823 Ld. Byron 17 May (1980) X. 175 But this has plunged me into a pit of domestic troubles—for ‘la mia Dama’..was seized with a furious fit of Italian jealousy. a1853 F. W. Robertson (1855) 2nd Ser. viii. 113 The cold damp pits of disappointment. 1900 A. H. Norway 196 [He] cuss'd me into the pit for interruptin' uv'n. 1985 C. Angier iv. 79 Jean was in a deep pit of depression, drinking heavily and hardly eating at all. 2001 D. Schoemperlen xxiv. 323 I am plunged into a pit of despair, crippled by a crisis of faith, engulfed by a mushroom cloud of misery. society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [noun] > executioner > privilege of gallows and pit 1275 in W. Illingworth (1818) II. 302 (MED) Thomas de Furnival tenet manerium de Wirkesoþ de honore de Tychill, et habet furcas, pitte, pillory, tumberel..quo warranto ignorant & quo tempore ignorant. 1541 in A. Fraser (1879) II. 243 To the said Alexander Fraser..be all richt merchis and diuisis..with furk, foss, sok, sak, tholl, theme, infangtheif, outfangtheif, pit and gallows, [etc.]. 1609 J. Skene tr. i. iv. 6 b To hald their courts, with sock, sack, gallous, and pit, toll, and thame, infang-thief, and outfang-thief. [L. qui habent, & tenent curias suas; cum socco & sacca, furca & fossa, Toill, & Theme, Infang-thiefe, & Outfang-thiefe.] 1614 J. Selden 286 The Gallows vnderstand as Ours, and for men Theiues; and the Pit, a place to drown Women Theiues. 1678 G. Mackenzie ii. 417 But a Barron properly, is he who is Infeft with power of Pit and Gallows. 1754 E. Burt II. xxiv. 252 The heretable Power of Pit and Gallows..is, I think, too much for any particular Subject to be intrusted withal. 1814 W. Scott I. x. 129 Habendi curias et justicias, cum fossa et furca (LIE pit and gallows)..[etc.] . View more context for this quotation 1892 vi Their boasted right of ‘pit and gallows’ was tempered in the first instance by the withdrawal from their jurisdiction of the Crown Pleas. 1914 J. Mackay 210 It was then [after Culloden] that the clan system was broken, and hereditary jurisdiction terminated. The great chiefs and barons..were deprived of the power of ‘pit and gallows’. 1988 D. M. Walker I. 284 This grant of gallows and pit in time became the standard attribute and indeed the distinguishing mark of a grant of barony; pit, originally the ordeal pit, became the baron's dungeon. 9. the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > be cowardly or show signs of cowardice [verb (intransitive)] > yield in a cowardly manner > run away as a coward society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting or baiting animals > fighting between animals > [noun] > place for a1568 R. Ascham (1570) ii. f. 51v One Cock..which..doth passe all other..that euer I saw in any pitte. a1633 Visct. Falkland (1680) 120 Their Friends turn craven, and all forsake the pit before the battle. 1664 S. Butler ii. iii. 210 To quit His Victory, and fly the Pit. 1676 A. Marvell To Rdr. sig. A2 Had he esteemed..that it was decent for him to have enter'd the Pit with so Scurrilous an Animadverter. 1704 No. 4063/4 The..Pens are..built over the Pit. 1740 S. Richardson II. 309 We were all to blame, to make Madam, here, fly the Pit, as she did! 1801 J. Strutt iii. vii. 249 Sent his man to the pit in Shoe-Lane, with an hundred pounds and a dunghill cock. 1851 J. G. Bruff Jrnl. 24 June in (1944) II. v. 971 The pit..was a rough dilapidated enclosure of wooden rails, within which..Mexicanes, were pitting their fowls, and betting. 1895 S. R. Crockett 45 It was a curious sight to see them passaging with little airs and graces, like fighting cocks matched in a pit. 1989 C. R. Wilson & W. Ferris 1477/2 Fights are regularly scheduled at hundreds of permanent arenas or ‘pits’. 2002 25 Apr. 8/4 Kennedy has never written a more vivid and sanguinary chapter than his description of a cockfight at a pit in neighboring South Troy. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > part of vessel where sailors live > in naval vessel 1890 Pit,..the cockpit of a ship. 1986 W. Clement iii. 41 When fishing they operate the boat from the ‘pit’ in the stern, where all the controls required to steer the boat and the equipment needed to fish and clean are readily at hand. 10. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > auditorium > [noun] > pit or ground floor 1649 R. Lovelace 78 The other [comedy] for the Gentlemen oth' Pit. 1682 J. Dryden 11 Let Cully Cockwood, Fopling charm the Pit. 1710 R. Steele No. 145. ⁋2 She in a Front Box, he in the Pit next the Stage. 1781 R. B. Sheridan iii. i Speak more to the pit..—the soliloquy always to the pit, that's a rule. 1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton II. xvi. 184 The pit is crowded. 1876 W. Smith 121 The designation parterre, still given by the French to the pit. 1922 W. S. Maugham xlvii. 186 Declaiming the blank verse of Sheridan Knowles with an emphasis to rouse the pit to frenzy. 1979 J. Pick 9 The Bancrofts..reordered their theatre building (the pit was done away with and neat rows of seats appeared for the middle classes in its stead). society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > place of performance or practice > [noun] > opera house > orchestra pit 1915 July 7/1 No reasonable excuse can be given for not supplying the pianist in the pit..with an instrument that will enable him or her to give..a first-class performance. 1924 Aug. 86/3 The nine man combination..makes the old time string-band of the pit more and more of an incongruity. 1929 Feb. 21/1 I spoke of the kit needed by the drummer in the pit (more particularly with a dance band). 1936 I. Kolodin v. 421 The Sunday night concert..was composed of American music, the orchestra in the pit augmented by a jazz band supplied by the National Broadcasting Company. 1966 6 Oct. 517/1 The strings had a bloom that is often lacking, the woodwind sweetness as well as precision; ensemble had improved, including rapport between stage and pit. 1977 9 May 132/3 (It is said that Toscanini was the first to sink the pit at La Scala.) The Orpheum, where the Boston ‘Rigoletto’ was done, has no pit, either. 2004 Mar. 21/1 In the pit,..her outspread arms signal a clear and relentless beat, while her body..is a conduit for energy which she relays to her avid players. society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > place of performance or practice > [noun] > at rock concert 1987 4 June c4/6 Normally we have a pit. In the pit, you mosh. 1990 28 Aug. 96 Three simultaneous pits were active on the floor, giving those caught in the mosh a chance..[to] have some stupidass fun. 2000 (Nexis) 16 Oct. 8 There will be no rocking in the aisles or moshing in the pits! society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun] > pit under machine society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing with vehicles > motor racing > [noun] > course or track > place for refuelling or repairs 1839 7 Dec. 368 Under each engine is a pit three feet deep, which enables the engine~men to get underneath to examine and repair it. 1883 XX. 237/2 Between the rails of each radiating line a pit is constructed to afford access below the engines for inspection. 1912 28 Sept. 11/1 Up swoops the racer, rear wheels locked and sliding, thundering and veiled in smoke, and stops at the pit. 1924 Oct. 176/2 F. C. Clayton on his Marseal, had to turn into the pits after eight laps. 1957 16 Oct. 12/6 A man who had a garage and a pit and no car. 1972 M. Gilbert iv. 44 He climbed out of the pit..and said..‘You've come to buy a car.’ 1988 June 38/3 I paused in the pits to have a new set of tyres fitted. 12. society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > market-place > parts of market-place 1881 26 Feb. 3/4 In my hand is a check for $300. In the wheat pit over in Board of Trade is your lover. Which do you choose? 1886 July 192/1 Back of the ‘Pit’ is the Call Room. a1902 F. Norris (1903) i. 17 The world's food should not be at the mercy of the Chicago wheat pit. 1932 G. W. Hoffman viii. 136 Scalpers, members of an exchange, usually trade from the pit or the ring. They are..referred to as floor or pit or ring traders. 1976 2 July 4 b/1 There was some trade in meal, oil and corn and oats, but before the close, all pits were locked at the top. 2001 13 May v. 11/3 From the..viewing gallery, you can witness the untamed close combat of commodities traders in the pit. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > other card games > [noun] > others 1904 12 Nov. 8/5 Society has a new card game, called ‘Pit’... The name ‘Pit’ is suggested by the Wheat Pit... The game is..a mimicry of a Corn Exchange, where every player is trying to make a corner in some particular grain. 1964 S. Nurell-Smith iv. 203 Card games, not only frivolous like ‘Pit’ but also instructive. 1977 24 Dec. 10/6 I certainly enjoy party games... One which is good for all ages is ‘Pit’. You must buy special cards for this. 2000 (Nexis) 17 Dec. 10 e Pit, a popular card game based on commodities trading that has been around since 1904, has a deluxe version out this year. 1963 R. B. Taylor & P. Howell ii. 12 We have played the game honestly and have had no fear of the pit-boss behind us as he strolled up and down the pit. 1978 M. Puzo ii. 15 He moved out of the pit, the purple carpet sticking beneath his feet... He made some foolhardy bets, lost and moved into the blackjack pit. 1993 S. Kuriscak 23 Eighty-Six. To eject, evict, bounce. Also to close down a table, pit or the casino for the night. 2001 Dec. 161/1 On the ceiling of every casino, hundreds of glass eyes look down..over the blackjack tables, the roulette wheels, the craps pits, the slots, the pai-gow poker lounges. II. A hollow, an indentation. the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > scar > of plague or smallpox the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > disfigurement > [noun] > a disfigurement or blemish > depression the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > [noun] > action of making indentation > an indentation on a surface > small indentation OE (1955) 60 Serpedo, pyt ful wyrmses. ?a1450 Miracles Our Lady in (1923) 38 362 Þai fond þe ymage of oure lady Broken and defouled bodily... On þe ymage was many a pitte þere as þe stones hade hitte. 1677 No. 1188/4 A short thick man..some few pits of the Small Pox. 1683 i. 23 Her Cheeks, when..she scratched with so much violence the Aposthumate Pox, had received such deep Wounds, that every Pit resembled a Cautery. 1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer I. 323 An exceeding white bead of Silver, the lower part whereof will be unequal, and full of little pits. 1780 (Royal Soc.) 70 134 It sometimes happens..that there is a pitt in consequence of a chicken pock. 1825 11 June 290/1 The brown or dark scaly eruption at last falling off, sometimes leaving pits. 1852 C. Morfit (1853) 170 Heat and moisture may dissolve the gelatine, and thus cause the hides to be scarred with pits. 1884 19 Sept. 273/2 The sandstone surface is distinctly marked by raindrop pits. 1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price (ed. 2) liii. 545 The formation of pits, ‘pitting’ as the phenomenon is called, is very characteristic of the rusting of iron. 1956 15 Dec. 1244 These pilonidal sinuses..may be caused by loose hairs, foreign bodies, or inspissated secretions being drawn into small abrasions or acne pits in the skin. 1989 (Time-Life Bks.) (new ed.) i. 34/1 (caption) Look at the valve seat for signs of wear—scratches, pits or an uneven surface. 14. the world > life > the body > skin > dimple > [noun] the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > indentation or cavity > [noun] > depression or cavity the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > parts of bones > [noun] > socket or cavity the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > parts of skull > [noun] > socket of eye the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > flower-cup or central hollow the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > [noun] > parts of > depression on surface a1275 in C. Brown (1932) 49 Wose seiye þene feind hu lotliche he boe..As beit is heye-puttes [v.r. eye-puttes] asse a bruþen-leit, Þat fur sprinkit þer-of wnderliche reid. c1425 Edward, Duke of York (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 30 (MED) Some men seyn..þe boor..shal haue as mony smale pittes [a1425 Bodl. puttes] in þe forlegge as he hath yeeres. ?1541 R. Copland ii. sig. Kivv Of what shape are ye two focyl bones?.. The greatest hath two pyttes towarde the kne whiche receyue the rounde endes of the thyghe bone. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay ii. xxi. 59 The holes vnderneath your arm pittes. 1594 sig. A4v They say she hath a white pit in hir chin, That makes her looke lyke to the Queene of loue. 1688 R. Holme ii. 84/2 Of a Tree..the Pit or Hole [is] whereat the branches sprout out. 1695 E. Ravenscroft ii. ix. 24 A Chin dimpl'd; in that little Pit a thousand Hearts lye Buried. 1749 J. Cleland I. 38 A pit in my chin had a far from disagreeable effect. 1774 O. Goldsmith III. 78 This animal [sc. the Antelope]..has deeper eye pits than the former. 1818 J. Keats i. 44 Flowers, on their stalks set Like vestal primroses, but dark velvet Edges them round, and they have golden pits. 1834 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier (abridged ed.) 184 There is a little round indentation or pit behind each nostril. 1852 A. Robb 27 An' in her chin a gracefu' put. 1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs 540 The seed..displays a variety of sculpturing, such as pits, warts, bands. 1930 H. G. Newth (ed. 11) xiii. 334 On the posterior surface of the bone..is a deep pit, the trochanteric or digital fossa. 1969 R. F. Chapman i. 5 At each end of this sulcus is a pit. 1980 B. Arnold x. 221 One or two heads turned surreptitiously, and through the iron railings caught a glimpse of the dark, blackish pits of her eyes, fixed unblinkingly on him. the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > belly or abdomen > [noun] > pit of 1651 J. French v. 142 Anoint the pit of the stomacke. 1778 D. Garrick Let. 14 Sept. in D. Garrick & G. Spencer (1960) 131 I was seiz'd with a small pain at first in the Pit of my Stomach. 1781 C. Johnstone II. 161 Taking him a blow full in the pit of his stomach. 1818 W. Scott 14 Jan. Mine old enemy the cramp grippet me by the pit of the stomach. 1853 J. W. Metcalf 107 Sticking in the left palm, the right axilla, and near the pit of the chin. 1895 K. Grahame 179 He jogged along on his homeward way,..and had covered nearly half the distance, when suddenly—a deadly sinking in the pit of his stomach—..he had forgotten the tea-things! 1931 K. A. Porter 28 Aug. (1990) i. 55 The boat is rolling in heavy swooning swoops calculated to chill the pit of the stomach. 1987 R. Guy xxii. 173 The strange feeling at the pit of his stomach had nothing to do with her being his sister. the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > arm > [noun] > armpit 1955 J. P. Donleavy xvii. 205 No fuss. No excuses. Fine person. Am I smelling? Sniff a pit. Little musty. Can't have everything. 1973 M. Amis 71 Complete body-service..pits clipped, toes manicured, pubic hair permed and styled, each tooth brushed, tongue scraped, nose pruned. 1995 May 42 [He] doesn't look like a rising rock superstar, even in these days of undeodorized pits and unwashed mohair cardigans. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [noun] > specific result of diagnostic test a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 95 Fingre I-þurst in to þe fleische makeþ as it were an hole or a pitte, and þat pit ariseþ aftirward as hiȝe as þe oþir fleische. a1500 tr. Lanfranc (Wellcome) f. 25v (MED) Apostume..is whit and nesshe so if þou puttist it with thi fyngur, thowe shalt make a pyt. 1763 J. Johnson Pit,..A dint made by the finger. 1893 Pit, a depression. Applied medically to the permanent impression made by the finger in œdematous tissues, which are said to pit on pressure. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1839 J. Lindley (ed. 3) i. i. 6 It is, no doubt, very common for the pits of the membrane of one cell to be placed exactly opposite those of the next cell. 1857 A. Henfrey §662 The new layers, applying themselves..over the [cell-]wall, leave certain parts bare, which appear as dots or pits of various forms when viewed from the inside. 1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs 20 When contiguous cells are united into a tissue..the pits and pit-channels of both sides meet, and the intermediate thin portion of membrane becomes absorbed. 1914 M. Drummond tr. G. Haberlandt i. 44 These readily permeable spots generally take the shape of sharply defined areas of approximately circular cross-section, known as pits. 1976 P. Bell & D. Coombe tr. (new ed.) 110 If transversely elongated pits are arranged one above the other in the lateral walls the arrangement is said to be scalariform. 1989 100 323 He proposed that the so-called ‘sieve-like’ appearance of the pits in the vessel members of angiosperms is due to outgrowths from the secondary wall. 1975 (Industr. ed.) 15 Sept. 58 The beam bounces off a pattern of microscopic pits pressed into the videodisc. 1984 2 Nov. 42/3 The musical information has been transformed into a series of microscopic pits, buried beneath a clear protective coating. 1997 Jan. 102/2 A CD..stores its information as a series of pits etched..on a plastic disc that has been splatter-coated with a shiny foil. III. Miscellaneous uses. the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > hollowness > [noun] > a cavity or hollow c1480 (a1400) St. Julian 534 in W. M. Metcalfe (1896) I. 473 Þe gold til hyme þane tuk he sone, & askis in þe pyt has done. 19. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > pocket 1811 (at cited word) He drew a rare thimble from the swell's pit. He took a handsome watch from the gentleman's pocket. 1927 5 459 Pit, a pocket. 1938 F. D. Sharpe 332 The pit, the inside jacket pocket. 1955 D. W. Maurer in No. 24. 125 The most important pocket in the coat from the pickpocket's point of view is the coat pit, or the inside breast pocket... This is often shortened to pit. 1966 S. J. Baker (ed. 2) vii. 143 A generation ago,..the various pockets were known as..left kick or right kick or pit (trouser pockets). the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > bag at end of net 1883 296 A Cotton Eel Bow Net, with two wings and loose pit. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > bell > [noun] > other parts 1874 E. Beckett 345 The pit, or frame to hold a swing bell, must be a good deal longer than twice the height of the bell. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > [noun] 1948 E. Partridge et al. 143 Pit; usually the old pit. Bed. (Air Force). Where one ‘gets down to it’. 1964 J. Hale v. 76 He scrambles into his pit and pulls the blankets over his head. 1988 June 42/4 The most important item in camping comfort is your pit, after all you spend some 8 hours out of the 24 there. 2002 (Nexis) 13 July 4 Crew members..were asleep in their ‘pits’ when the ship struck. the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worst > [noun] > example of something 1953 2 Nov. 54/3 A bad exam experience would be ‘I'm wasted’ at Howard,..‘It was the pits’ at Vassar. 1965 40 194 Pits, n. This is a slang abbreviation of the term armpits, again with an extension of meaning to entail the idea of body odor (‘He's got the pits’) or, more broadly, something unpleasant (‘It [sc. the party] was really the pits’). 1979 20 Dec. p. xi/3 If Dors is the very personification of the buxom backside of the other Britain..then Joan Collins is the pits. Just the pits. 1981 J. McEnroe in 22 Nov. 11 I've never been fined for saying something obscene. It's always been for saying ‘You're the pits,’ or something. 1990 11 Feb. 25 Their studios in London are the pits. Compounds C1. a. the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > [noun] > of something steep c1395 G. Chaucer 1401 He seyde, ‘freendes I am hoor and old And almoost, god woot, on my pittes brynke.’] 1571 J. Bridges 34 Doth not [their doctrine] bring a man euen to the pit brink of desperation, that maketh a man alwayes mystrusting lest he shalbe damned? 1613 T. Jackson ii. xxiv. §5 At the very Pitbrincke of destruction. 1909 Feb. 109/1 Thistles..always grow in the soil where a pit-camp has been placed. 1994 (Nexis) 19 May 4 The Parkside pit camp came to an end yesterday when bailiffs moved in to evict the handful of demonstrators protesting against the closure of the last colliery in the Lancashire coalfield. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant by type of accommodation > [noun] > pit-dweller 1863 E. H. Gillett II. xix. 558 They lived in pits and caves, and thus obtained the nick-name of Pit-dwellers (Grubenheimer). 1935 Apr. 94/1 The earliest inhabitants were pit-dwellers. 1994 24 Sept. (Weekend Suppl.) 15/4 I am astonished at how many heretics, apostates, atheists, sectarians, dissenters, mystics, pit dwellers, and hermits found shelter and a pulpit here. 1857 (new ed.) II. 678/2 On digging in the centre of these pit-dwellings, ashes and charred wood are found, the evidences of their domestic fires. 1949 V. G. Childe x. 195 Numerous [Iron Age] pits..have been habitually described as ‘pit-dwellings’... In reality they were silos for the storage of grain. 1999 26 183/2 The earlier habitation subphase consists of large pit dwellings, up to 5 m in diameter, encircled by post holes that indicate the position of walls. 1795 J. Banks ii. 91 The whole weight suspended at the pit end of the beam. 1879 15 Oct. The judge took the pit end of the saw. 1835 Pract. Treat. Roads 13 in (Libr. Useful Knowl.) (1840) III Gravel, which by some persons is called pit-flint. 1891 E. Sellers tr. C. Schuchhardt iv. 134 In the year 1876, the pit graves filled with gold were opened. 1897 J. G. Frazer Pref. The pit-graves with their treasures on the acropolis of Mycenae. 1989 J. P. Mallory vii. 211 The last cultural entity which may putatively be assigned a Proto-Indo-European date, is the Yamnaya (Pit-grave) culture. 1842 N. Hawthorne III. 61 It was distinguished by a peculiar virulence, insomuch that it has left its traces—its pitmarks, to use an appropriate figure—on the history of the country, the affairs of which were thrown into confusion by its ravages. 1891 G. Neilson 32 Hundreds of quarry-holes, mere surface pitmarks on the hill sides. 1986 E. Hall in A. Limon et al. (ed. 2) iii. ii. 327 Such holes and pitmarks may be filled with one of the many epoxy resin fillers now on the market. 1868 J. C. Atkinson 382 Pit-marked, marked with the pits or scars left by the smallpox. 1895 19 Nov. 2/1 A pit-marked stretch of scrub. 1942 H. J. Moersch in W. Walters et al. iv. 69 The color of a phytobezoar is generally much darker than that of a carcinoma and the surface is irregular and greatly pit-marked. 1989 (Nexis) 17 Dec. d1 A beefy six-footer.., his face big and round and pitmarked like the moon, mustached like Taras Bulba, with cheeks pink as a boy's. b. (In sense 3b.) the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > boot > [noun] > heavy or strong 1894 H. Pease 26 H tried to shift it, an' threw his pit boots at it. 1913 D. H. Lawrence i. 25 She..set his pit-boots beside them. 2003 (Nexis) 18 May (Features) 17 Flat caps and pit boots have given way to sports gear and fluorescent trainers. 1913 D. H. Lawrence i. 25 She..rinsed his pit-bottle. a1930 D. H. Lawrence (1968) 263 I, who remember the homeward-trooping of the colliers when I was a boy,..the red mouths and the quick whites of the eyes, the swinging pit bottles, and the strange voices of men from the underworld. society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > miner > [noun] > coal-miner > boy, girl, or woman 1842 Children's Employm. Comm.: 1st Rep.: Mines 175 in XV. 1 Daniel Hook, schoolmaster, Radford: ‘Has often observed and mentioned it that the pit-boys are anxious and willing to be taught’. 1897 8 Jan. 5/2 The President suggested that the pit boys should be placed on the same footing as their more fortunate mates. 1994 (Nexis) 11 Sept. (Features) He spent his boyhood working 12-hour shifts in an Arbroath flax-mill and his teens as pitboy in a coal-mine at Hamilton. 1839 A. Ure 971 The upper pit-cistern. 1859 17 Dec. 9/6 He had no coat, but a bundle. I saw he had ‘pit-clothes’ in the bundle. 1873 A. J. Munby Diary 11 Sept. in D. Hudson (1972) 343 Ellen herself came out of the kitchen; and she was in her pit clothes, as she had promised. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ iii. 37 At the baths he has two lockers where he can keep his pit clothes separate from his day clothes. 1993 P. Oliva iv. 69 The men wore woollen BVDs under their pit clothes, but Pep's skin wasn't used to the rough underwear yet. 1913 D. H. Lawrence iii. 49 He had taken off his pit-coat. 1891 24 Nov. 5/2 The great strike..has collapsed, the men withdrawing their demands unconditionally. Their chief request was for the recognition of the pit committee's aid in running the mines. 1928 (Liberal Industr. Inq.) iv. 266 Open consultation in the [coal] industry should be secured by the establishment of Pit Committees, District Boards, and a National Mining Council. 1992 P. V. Fishback iv. 48 A worker who felt he had been unfairly treated could appeal the foreman's decisions through a pit committee. 1913 D. H. Lawrence iv. 70 Here sat the colliers in their pit-dirt. 1991 M. Henry 32 He stokes washed singlets in the boiler and wears his pit-dirt on his arms. 1859 ‘G. Eliot’ i. i. 53 Look at the canals, an' th' aqueducs, an' th' coal-pit engines, and Arkwright's mills.] 1862 9 Jan. 9/6 No. 2 [boiler] was in working order, driving the pit engine. 1962 17 89 A local colliery-hand who had helped his father to stoke the pit-engine. 1998 (Nexis) 25 Oct. (Features section) He cared just as much for the saddle-tanks, the grimy pit engines that nobody bothered about at all. society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > miner > [noun] > coal-miner > boy, girl, or woman 1863 Apr. 436 The pit-girls are not less fond of holidays than their fathers. 1902 C. G. Harper ii. 35 Pit-girls too or rather pit-bank lasses. 1996 M. C. Smith (1997) xxvi. 328 And everywhere were Wigan pit girls, in individual and group portraits. 1798 R. Dodd 15 (note) The horned animal..was..put into the net used for the passing up and down of the pit horses. 1883 W. S. Gresley 224 Skep, a bucket or tub a pit-horse drinks out of. 1913 D. H. Lawrence vii. 172 Jimmy, who had been a pit-horse. 2003 (Nexis) 14 June The ponies on Dartmoor are more of a mixed lot, having bred with Shetlands that were brought in to increase stock and supply pit-horses for the coal mines in Wales. 1899 23 May 7/6 An explosion of firedamp occurred yesterday morning at the Benarty Pit... At the time James Morton, 41, pit inspector,..[was] in the mine repairing roads. 1923 28 Sept. 12/5 Edward Dunn, pit inspector for the men at Maltby, agreed..that there had been no uniform method of working the pit since the coal-getting began there twelve years ago. 2003 (Nexis) 20 Dec. 12 In 1964 he was elected workman's pit inspector for Rufford Colliery. 1862 Mar. 351 Files of pitmen and groups of pit-lads are now dotting all the roads. 1912 W. Owen 24 July (1967) 151 This pit-lad is wrestling with a Class~book of Physics. 2001 28 Feb. i. 22/6 With them was a 17-year old pit-lad, Tom Baker, who has now died aged 88. 1887 3 June 4/4 One more portrait, and a subject picture remained to be noticed in this room——..Mr. Horsley's ‘Portrait of Mr. J. M. Cook’..and Mr. Arthur Waisse's ‘Lancashire Pit Lasses at Work’. 1902 C. G. Harper II. 35 Let it not..be thought that the pit-lass is being made fun of. 2004 (Nexis) Jan. 27 By..the early 1900s, the fashion differences between coalfields were less marked, with the long rough skirt worn over leggings being the norm, and with relatively few collieries still dressing their pit lasses in breeches. 1898 5 May 5/2 The superintendent and pit manager of No. 3 Plant of the Leisenring Coke Works went..to release two men who..were being kept prisoners by the strikers. 1913 D. H. Lawrence i. 16 He could only abuse the pit-managers. 1985 25 Apr. 3/1 It registers on the computer screens immediately and the pit manager can take corrective action by phoning down to the pit bottom. 1721 T. Parkyns 35 Wastmen who remove and set the Wood, Gig-men who take off the Skeps of Coal at the Pit-mouth, and Bottomers who hang them on at the Bottom. 1833 H. Martineau ii. 28 Coal enough—and no little of a prime quality,—was destroyed at the pit-mouth. 2002 (Nexis) 23 Feb. (Sport section) 8 Every other Saturday was a half day off and the shift that was finishing at lunch-time would have a spread laid out for them at the pit mouth by their wives. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > draught-horse > that pulls wagon > used in specific professions 1876 11 Nov. 9/6 The fourteen pit ponies stationed there were found to have been killed by the explosion. 1938 G. Greene i. iii. 55 White hair, grey face, short-sighted pit pony eyes. 1998 23 Sept. 15/5 Steel—one of the last pit ponies in Britain—is to appear at the Horse of the Year Show..after being rescued from a solitary life spent toiling in the darkness. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 14 in T. Nourse (ed. 3) The Banck's-Man..has an empty Sledge to set the Loaden Corse on, as he takes it out of the Hook on the Pit-Rope. 1875 R. F. Martin tr. J. Havrez 23 Aloes form the best fibre for the manufacture of pit-ropes. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > shaft > of coal-mine 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 14 in T. Nourse (ed. 3) [Corves] halled all along the Barrow-way to the Pit-Shaft. 1886 H. Caine ii. vi The head-gear of the pit-shaft. 1958 11 Mar. 7/1 An escape of radium at a hospital led to the dumping of tons of material down a disused pit shaft. 2002 (Nexis) 7 Aug. 20 The story of the nine Pennsylvania coal miners who spent 77 hours trapped in a flooded pitshaft is to be made into a TV film by Walt Disney. 1913 D. H. Lawrence ii. 28 He..put on his pit-singlet. 1920 D. H. Lawrence (1936) 9 Once more the rabbit was wrapped in the old pit-singlet. 1851 in 5 Aug. (1854) 119/3 (Occupations of People) Pit-sinker. 1909 6 July 4/7 John Clarke, 38, a pit sinker, of Maltby. 1999 A. Findlay 40 Jock: drawer & pit-sinker, born 1900, at West Calder. 1859 Feb. 60 Information derived from pit-sinkings. 1890 30 July 9/6 The second paper, on improvements in the mechanical engineering of coal mines,..dealt exhaustively with the subjects of pit sinking, pumping, winding, steam haulage, [etc.]. 1896 4 May 3/6 There are ten new ventures in the way of pit-sinking in Monmouthshire. 1997 (Nexis) 8 Sept. Unionists from six mine construction and pit sinking companies from the Katowice region have announced referenda..for the workers to decide whether..they would go on strike. 1793 A. Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald 25 There is perhaps ten times that quantity of Wood used for waggon rails, &c. and pit timber at the Collieries on the Tyne and Weir. 1840 R. C. Taylor 24 For pit timber, there is scarcely an acre of the ten thousand which does not bear an ample supply for any extent of colliery works. 2002 (Nexis) 1 Aug. 18 Chinese encroachment into other parts of Tibet has resulted, with..forests destroyed in order that fuel, construction timber and pit timber for gold mines be provided. 1838 3 Nov. 6/3 A good current of air was forced through the workings by means of a water-fall and a barricading at the pit top, which forced the wind..down the pit shaft. 1968 M. Bragg vi. 54 He had a pit-top job at a limestone quarry. 2003 (Nexis) Apr. Since the mine was opened in 1887, five seams have been worked, starting with the Great Northern Seam which outcrops around the hills surrounding the pit top. 1913 D. H. Lawrence ii. 27 He..struggled into his pit-trousers. 1980 28 Mar. 1/3 Hoggers are three-quarter-length pit trousers. 2001 (Nexis) 15 Nov. 11 I used to watch them going to work, boys of 15 in their pit trousers. 1844 9 Apr. 6/7 I am informed by a commercial gentleman who has returned from ‘the pit villages’, as they are commonly termed, that to-day the great bulk of the men have left work. 1862 Mar. 352 Pit villages..vary much in their character for cleanliness. 1957 R. Frankenberg 1 Reviewers have..stressed the novelty of..information..about a pit-village in Yorkshire. 1994 6 Mar. (Style & Travel section) viii. 18/2 He was raised in the Nottinghamshire pit village of New Ollerton (a flashpoint during the miners' strike in 1984). 1907 at Pit Pit-winder. 1949 21 Mar. 4/3 (headline) Pit winders not to strike. 2003 (Nexis) 21 July (Features section) 20 He was a pit winder and although he was a very big man with huge hands, his face and hands were as soft as a baby's. 1860 A. J. Munby Diary 29 Sept. in D. Hudson (1972) 76 A photograph of a pitwoman in costume. 1885 20 Oct. 4/1 Thomas Norbury..claims..that the pit women and girls, when at work, are ‘picturesquely’ clad. 1889 17 Oct. 9/4 The last few years have..been productive of an increased degree of intelligence, and diminished recklessness, among pit workers. 1951 41 595 One of the most significant aspects of the Saar is the large number of miners—nearly half of the 40,000 pitworkers—who own their own homes and small farms. 2002 N. Lebrecht vi. 197 The house is a two-up, two-down pebbledash terrace, built by a patrician mine-owner for deserving pit-workers. 1864 11 Jan. 4/6 The pit workings are now won out for over 200 tons per day. 1963 P. Keatley i. iii. 15 The first English and South African hunters in mid-Victorian times discovered evidence of pit workings as well as the easier method of ‘panning’ or washing. 2004 (Nexis) 21 Apr. 13 We've had the ‘pleasure’ of living near spoil tips and pit workings, and suffered the nuisance of coal dust and the noise of coal lorries. c. (In sense 10.) 1932 21 Nov. 3 Ash is the guy that invented the idea of having the pit band play on the stage. 1946 R. Blesh (1949) xii. 280 Completely in the manner of the average musical comedy pit band of the 1920's. 2003 D. Horn in 52/1 In most theatrical presentations involving a pit band, the pit is located in front of the stage at a lower level. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ xi. 189 The despised pit-bandsmen and light musicians. 1667 S. Pepys 22 May (1974) VIII. 232 But here Knipp spied me out of the tiring-room and came to the pit door: and I out to her and kissed her. 1767 S. Neville 28 May (1950) i. 9 Went to Drury Lane, but could not get in. Stayed from ½ past 4, Sometime at one Pit door and sometime at the other, till past 6. 1894 G. B. Shaw 30 Apr. (1965) I. 433 A man who thinks a dramatic performance worth waiting at the pit door all day for is a lunatic. 1915 W. S. Maugham xix. 77 With vivid fancy he seemed to see the surging throng round the pit-door of theatres. 2003 (Nexis) 9 Mar. iv. 13/2 I opened the pit door for our last performance. 1788 R. Hitchcock I. vii. 111 For the Benefit of Mr. Fox, Pit-Door-Keeper, At the Theatre in Smock-Alley, On Thursday the 4th of June, 1741, will be acted a Comedy call'd, The Squire of Alsatia. 1831 J. Boaden in I. p. xxxvi For the benefit of his father, the pit-door keeper, and others. 1855 W. B. Wood i. 40 My keeper, Mr H., was at this time pit door-keeper at the Chestnut Street Theatre. 1927 Aug. 767/3 Whether this is because the dancers or singers think a modern dance band is a more enhancing support than a piano or the pit orchestra—which, of course, it is—or whether it is the band which decides..,I know not. 1934 S. R. Nelson i. 27 The atmosphere of the cinema pit-orchestra or military band. 1990 May 16/3 Two hardworking pianists work their fingers to the ivory in a valiant and successful attempt to replace a 65 piece pit orchestra. 1829 28 Sept. 2/1 Places for the Boxes and Pit Stalls to be taken at the Box office of Covent-garden Theatre. 1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in 25 Feb. 417/2 A pit at sixpence, boxes and pit-stalls at a shilling, and six private boxes at half-a-crown. 1999 D. Haslam ii. 45 Shopkeepers and publicans in the orchestra, stalls and dress circle, artisans and regular workers in the pit stalls, and the low class and no class on the ‘top shelf’ or balcony. 1735 225 I wish he may have a good Night, but..I have but little Hopes of it, from the Difficulty I have had to put off a few Pit Tickets for him. 1864 D. G. Rossetti 5 July (1965) II. 513 He will reserve for me his two pit tickets for Mirella tonight. 1940 9 Sept. 6/3 The highest price for a seat is 1s. 6d., pit tickets cost 1s., and gallery tickets 6d. 2003 (Nexis) 18 Apr. 24 d All seats are reserved except for a few hundred fans who will get..pit tickets in front of the stage. 1804 14 Apr. 1/1 Opera-House.——To be Sold a Box, in the Pit Tier, for the remainder of the season. 1860 W. Collins (new ed.) III. 269 As he spoke the Count looked downwards towards the boxes behind us on the pit tier. 1932 30 Mar. 12/3 We were in a box on the pit tier. C2. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1918 5 July 17/2 The outline of the pits, the pit-apertures, and other minute characters are preserved in every detail. 1953 K. Esau iii. 44 The circular pit apertures in a bordered pit-pair appear exactly opposite each other. 1990 13 427/1 The thickened tonus region of the membrane became displaced from its normal sealing position over the pit aperture. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > platform 1786 5 The Stourbridge, &c. coals are sold at the Pit Bank at four shillings per ton. 1870 A. J. Munby Diary 25 June in D. Hudson (1972) 288 ‘I've worked on pit bonk most o' my days’, said an Oakengates lassie. 1930 W. H. Auden 67 Head-gears gaunt on grass-grown pit-banks. 2004 (Nexis) 18 Jan. 16 Women whose husbands and sons worked at Diglake rushed to the colliery. They stood on the pit bank waiting for news. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > prop or support 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 4 in T. Nourse (ed. 3) Pit-Bars of Wood and Deals must be used till we get to the Stone. 1894 R. O. Heslop (at cited word) Pit-bar, a frame bar of wood to support the boards used in sinking through loose stuff. 1931 25 June 515/3 It is only such non-geological phrases as ‘pit-bing’ and ‘seger-cones’ that will puzzle the ordinary educated reader. 1985 W. McIlvanney i. 14 In the almost dark a pit-bing loomed on their right. 2004 (Nexis) 7 Mar. 5 But what remains today..? A few pit bings, and even those have been grassed over and turned into part of the leisure landscape of central Scotland. the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Acrocephalus > species scirpaceus (reed-warbler) 1862 C. Kingsley Water-babies i, in Aug. 275/2 The pit-bird warbling in the sedges, as he had warbled all night long. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > typically black > as other typical substances 1871 F. T. Palgrave 48 The curse, pit-black from below. 1894 H. Pease 23 Aal o' a heap in his bed wiv his tongue pit-black, his eyes starin'. 1932 9 Jan. 25/4 The sun seemed to stream through a sudden rift in pit-black skies. 1998 (Nexis) 15 Oct. 65 Perhaps his pit-black depressions are because he misses his two-year-old son. 1871 4 Apr. A man named Ward, a pit boss, working for the West. Coal Co.,..was killed by the explosion of gas. 1918 W. L. McKenzie King vii. 174 No one expects pit bosses in mines or foremen of works to have the sagacity of managers. 1939 5 May i. 11/7 Chick Nelson, ‘pit boss’ of a gambling ship, conducted classes in roulette in the Zimmerman living room. 1993 P. Oliva ii. 37 The coal..bashed its way down the coal chutes into mine cars that..moved past tippers, timbermen, tunnellers, fire bosses, pit bosses, haulers, [etc.]. 2000 F. Renzulli Happy Wanderer (HBO TV shooting script) 20 (stage direct.) in 2nd Ser. (O.E.D. Archive) Christopher floats around..the card table like a pit boss. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > shaft > bottom of c1540 (?a1400) 12663 When þe prinse was past to þe pit bothum, Þe buernes on þe bonk bet hym with stonys. 1782 G. Crawford & W. Semple 257 Horses draw the coals, below ground, from the coalliers to the pit bottom; from thence they are taken up by a horse gin above ground. 1867 W. W. Smyth 121 The coal may be brought down hill to the pit-bottom. 1992 12 Feb. d25/1 The loosened dirt, rock and gold residue is scooped by huge, automated shovels into giant trucks that grind their way up from the depths of the pit bottom. society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > miner > [noun] > coal-miner > working in specific part 1721 T. Parkyns 35 Wastmen who remove and set the Wood, Gig-men who take off the Skeps of Coal at the Pit-mouth, and Bottomers who hang them on at the Bottom.] 1887 P. McNeill 46 Will Hood had been appointed pit-bottomer here. 1923 30 July 10/6 The explosion occurred near the bottom of the old pit shaft. Andrew Airlie, an elderly pit bottomer, was thrown against the wall. the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > brow or edge of c1450 (1905) II. 295 (MED) So his sawle was broght vnto þe prince of Hell syttand opon þe pytt bra. society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > cage 1869 7 Apr. 4/6 Early on Saturday morning the colliery..was inundated... Only seven of the miners were at work... Three escaped by clinging to the rope attached to the pit cage. 1904 29 Mar. 7/3 A serious pit-cage accident, resulting in the loss of three lives..at the Swanwick Collieries. 2004 (Nexis) 22 Mar. 10 All that remains of the mine is the old pit cage, towering above the landscape. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1911 (Royal Soc.) B. 201 11 The whole tissue is seen to be connected by the fine black lines of the pit-canals. 1953 K. Esau iii. 43 The border divides the cavity into the pit chamber..and the pit canal, the passage from the cell lumen into the pit chamber. 1994 81 104 Casts have such high fidelity and high resolution that details of pit canals, pit chambers, and perforation plates can be studied. the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > types of tomb > [noun] > types of ancient or prehistoric 1921 Feb. 33/1 Still another kind [of grave]..is known as the ‘pit-cave’. This was made by first sinking a pit and then cutting out the tomb in the form of a side-recess from the bottom of the pit. 1939 J. D. S. Pendlebury iv. 242 At Zapher Papoura both the shaft grave and the pit cave continue in use. 1987 67 227 In Tomb 43, a pit-cave, sword, knife and razor, all of bronze, were found with the skeleton. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1884 (Royal Soc.) 174 834 The pit membranes..have distinctly swollen, and..have increased the distance from one another of the ends of the protoplasmic processes projecting into the pit cavity. 1953 K. Esau iii. 41 In the bordered pit the secondary wall arches over the pit cavity. 1991 152 233/2 The single file of raised oval structures..are casts of the pit cavities left behind after removal of the secondary wall. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1917 44 202 The deposit either fills the pit-chamber altogether or bridges it across, leaving a minute vestige of the chamber. 1967 S. Broido-Altman tr. A. Fahn ii. 40 As the walls continue to thicken the pit chamber becomes smaller. 1995 82 604/1 Tracheids [in Nothotsuga] have a warty layer lining the inner surface of the secondary wall and in the pit chambers. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [adjective] > other ancient 1954 S. Piggott xi. 303 The great groups of cord-ornamented and pit-comb wares of northern Europe. 1957 V. G. Childe (ed. 6) xi. 204 From Sweden to Siberia indeed all pots were manufactured by the same technique of ring-building, all taper downward to a rounded base and all may be decorated with rows of pits, frequently combined with zones of comb impressions. The whole ceramic family is therefore termed ‘pit-comb ware’. 2001 (Nexis) 31 May 18 At Lake Onega, it [sc. rock art] is attributed to a pottery-making culture whose pit-comb style of pottery stretched to the Ural Mountains of today's Russia. the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hollow or depression > [noun] > crater 1862 G. P. Scrope (ed. 2) ix. 216 One of the chief characteristics of this remarkable class of crateriform hollows (pit-craters they have been called) is that, however deep their interior may be, their borders often rise but little..above the level of the surrounding country. 1917 64 395 (caption) Floor and wall of pit crater close to Kilauea. 1976 A. Rittmann & L. Rittmann (1978) 53 Shield volcanoes often have flat-bottomed craters with very steep sides which collapse from time to time..to..cause an increase in size of the crater itself, which is known in this instance as a pit-crater. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > terrier > [noun] > pit bull 1941 D. T. Lynch xxxiv. 303 Pit-dogs, both rat-baiting terriers and fighting bulldogs, were the proud possession of the average New York politician who boasted a stable during the seventies. 1951 J. F. Gordon ii. 23 The Pit Dog, Pit Bull Terrier or Stafford..achieved some measure of emancipation from his gladiatorial background. 1993 July 24/2 Pit Bull Terriers originated in America in the early 1800s from Irish, English, Spanish and Sicilian pit dogs imported to compete in organised dog-fighting. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > shaft > bottom of 1662 Dr. Power in T. Birch (1756) I. 135 Sometimes it [sc. fiery damp] hath taken its way, up at the pit-eye or shaft, with such vehemency, that it has thrown the turn quite away from the mouth of the pit; which is a great cylinder of wood, of a great weight. 1869 16 Jan. 43/2 Then they descend, and at the pit eye the lamps are examined and locked. 1920 5 Apr. 4/5 The collier is paid by results,..by the amount of coal he sends to the pit-eye. 1985 K. Howarth at Pit Pit-eye, the point in a coal mine shaft where tubs are loaded and unloaded at the cage. the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > by size, shape, etc. > having 1696 No. 3229/4 A Sorrel Mare,..9 years old, lop-ears, pit-eyed. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1924 (Royal Soc.) B. 212 100 The pits in the ‘field’ are simple and vary from one to three in number.] 1934 S. J. Record i. 24 A pit field may persist without the development of any pit-pairs on it, but usually there is one, often two, and sometimes three to six. 1976 P. Bell & D. Coombe tr. (new ed.) 63 Where the pit fields are oval or elongated, the bordered pits take on a similar shape. 1997 158 101/2 All cells were surrounded by a cell wall whose thickness was related to its location..and to the presence of pit fields. the world > animals > fish > unspecified types > [noun] 1686 F. Willughby & J. Ray (caption to Plate) Pit Fish. 1704 tr. J. Nieuhof Voy. E.-Indies in A. Churchill & J. Churchill II. 349/2 The Pitt Fish is no bigger than a large Smelt, with a round Body, full of green and yellow spots, and without scales. 1787 W. F. Mavor Pit-fish. This fish, which is caught in the Oriental seas.., possesses the singular faculty of protruding or drawing back it's eyes at pleasure. society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > pit equipment > at head of shaft 1760 G. Holland 5 There is..also a new pit-frame and pullies; together with a gin wheel, and roof set up. 1870 4 July 6/3 The engines, winding apparatus, and pit frame are all enclosed in a massive building,..which had more the appearance of a large factory than a coalpit. 1997 (Nexis) 26 Apr. 18 The redundant pit frame of Racecourse Colliery perches on a hill surrounded by rusting carts, tracks, coal and an abandoned slag heap. 1878 F. H. Gray (ed. 2) 148 (advt.) Importer and Breeder of Pit Game Fowls. 1885 8 Feb. 7/4 The following awards..are given... Poultry..Black Games..White Georgian Games..Brown Red Games..Pit Games. 1901 G. C. Watson v. 77 Pit Games are short-legged, compact, stout fowls, with an abundance of tail feathers. 2001 (Nexis) 28 July 10 Some of the breeds on display in the poultry section will be Australian game, old English game, Indian game, pit game, modern game, orpington, Rhode Island red, [etc.]. 1882 12 Oct. 6/1 We recommend each branch..to call special meetings..to take a ballot of every miner. That such meetings be called at the pit-gate or in the branch room. 1883 W. S. Gresley 188 Pit-gate (Y.), any place in the immediate neighbourhood of a colliery at which colliers hold meetings of their own in reference to wages, &c. 1909 12 Aug. 8/4 In the event of a pit-gate meeting being held, the men would be allowed an extra half-hour to get their lamps and descend on June 28. 1984 10 Nov. 36/3 The police and coal board officials had thought that mass pit-gate demonstrations were beginning to wane. 1902 XXX. 701/2 Professor Joseph Henry, about 1850, recommended to the observers of the Smithsonian Institution the use of the ‘pit-gauge’. a1884 E. H. Knight Suppl. 686/2 Pit Guide, a vertical bar forming a guide for the cage in mining shafts. 1866 T. S. Cobbold 41 The pit-headed or broad tapeworm (Bothriocephalus latus)..is indigenous in Ireland. 1890 Pit-headed..is applied specifically (a) to tapeworms, as Bothriocephalus latus (T. S. Cobbold), and (b) to venomous serpents of the family Crotalidæ, known as pit-headed vipers. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > surface works 1769 W. Sharp 12 A man who..buys coal at the pit-heap for two-pence halfpenny or three pence a bushel. 1822 T. Bewick (1975) iii. 25 All who now crouded the Pit heap or surrounded its mouth. 1883 W. S. Gresley Pit Heap, see Heapstead... The entire surface works about a colliery shaft. 1976 26 Nov. 1/1 The lorries would be carrying shale from the massive pitheap at Pegswood for the new coal disposal point at Butterwell. society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > [noun] > coke oven 1839 A. Ure 995 A schachtofen, or pit-kiln, for coking coals in Germany. 1956 A. O. Shepard ii. 80 In the pit kiln, juniper wood was stacked around the pottery, which was placed against the wall opposite the flue. 2003 (Nexis) 17 Aug. (Travel section) 1 The local clay turns black because it contains iron oxide and because smoke is trapped inside the pit kiln during firing. 1965 10 Apr. ii. 7/1 The track was inundated, and water ankle deep was flowing down the pit lane,..but the cars kept moving. 1999 Nov. 77/1 Other pitlanes are quite grippy. Some are downhill,..which adds another dimension. 1969 14 Sept. 10/3 Before dawn one morning, two shots were heard from the direction of his cabin, but no one paid any attention as pitlighting was common practice. the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > [noun] > grave-digging > grave-digger 1567 W. Thomas Beccamorto, the pitmaker, or any one that gaineth by the buriall of the deade. 2004 (Nexis) Feb. 19 The cathedral employed a special ‘pit-maker’ who dug the graves in return for a fee of 6d. the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > [noun] > grave-digging 1527–8 in H. Littlehales (1905) 345 Receivide..for her place of buriall, for her pitt making & other duties viij s. iiij d. 1885 C. Swainson 56 Sand martin... So called from its habit of excavating with its bill a nest in sandy banks; whence also..Pit martin. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > theatre-going > theatregoer > [noun] > theatre audience > occupants of specific seat or place 1701 G. Farquhar v. vi. 47 Perhaps your Pleasure never reach'd above a Pit-Masque in your Life. the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1884 (Royal Soc.) 174 818 A communication between adjacent cells is established by means of pits, the pit membrane being perforated by fine protoplasmic threads. 1913 11 15 The delicate pit membranes were ruptured by the shrinkage of the cell walls in drying. 1987 74 1438 The model also showed that the pit membranes account for an increasing percentage of total resistance to water flow as the lumen diameter increases. 1698 J. Houghton in (1727) II. ccclviii. 420 Thus prepared, 'tis fit for the pit-mortar, which has flat hammers without nails. Into this by a trough runs water continually. 1750 II. 50 The Mass being beaten a third time.., it is thereby fitted for the Pit-Mortar, where it is perfectly dissolved, and is then carried to the Vat to be form'd into Paper. 1892 49 155 The remains of circular foundations composed of small field-stones concreted with sticky gravel, termed in the midland counties ‘pit mortar’. 1957 H. E. Driver & W. C. Massey vi. 239 Pit mortars in the ground..were used to mash mesquite pods and juniper berries, and around the western Great Lakes for hulling wild rice. 1997 L. A. Reilly ii. 30 (note) The 14th-cent. lantern walls consisted of a thin facing of Barnack stone with rubble and ‘pitmortar’. the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > subfamily Crotalinae > member of (pit-viper) > part of 1903 13 Feb. 252/1 Organs of the acustico-lateral system... 1. Canal organs... 2. Pit organs, similar to the last, but each in a separate pit. 1969 5 Dec. 1287/1 The mandibular pit organs of pelagic sharks..respond sensitively to monovalent cations. 1976 3 June 441/1 He did more classic work on the pit-organ of rattlesnakes, where he demonstrated the exquisite thermal sensitivity of this receptor. 1996 93 6079/2 In cases such as the rattlesnake's thermoreceptive pit organ, the sensitivity defies the imagination: a temperature change of 0.003°C can trigger a physiological response! the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > cell > parts of cell > cell wall and parts 1933 36 5 Pit-pair, two complementary pits of adjacent cells. 1933 36 10 Tylosis, a proliferation of the protoplast of a parenchymatous cell through a pit-pair into the lumen of an adjacent vessel or tracheid. 1989 100 324 Pit pairs on the vessel member walls are important structures that regulate the flow of liquid and gases in the living tree. 1758 W. Shirley 39 The Pit People complain sadly of the Closeness of theirs [sc. rows of seats]. 1760 G. A. Stevens I. 197 This affronted the Pit People, and they began to pelt the military Folks. 1855 J. R. Leifchild 272 Amongst the northern pit-people. 1992 (Nexis) 16 Feb. d14 There are dozens of pitpeople around town, of course, including her boyfriend,..a mastman. the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > planting trees or afforestation > pit-planting 1898 C. E. Curtis ix. 28 When planting deeper soils..pit-planting must be adopted. 1931 5 18 No method is fool-proof, but pit-planting appears to be the safest. 1970 H. L. Edlin i. 110 Failures in pit planting nearly always arise from insufficient firming-up. 1987 K. Rushforth iv. 77 When planting into very light sandy soils, it is possible to plant in a small depression, so that it will be easier to water the tree... The above describes ‘pit planting’, which is appropriate for all sizes of tree. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > prop or support 1794 J. Bailey & G. Culley 14 The price..of birch, aller, &c. for pit props, six feet long, and from four to six inches diameter 4 d. each. 1891 31 Aug. 4/2 Pit-props, which are used as supports in the different workings in collieries. 1993 66 120 The demands of the early industrial revolution for charcoal, pitwood etc. caused forest depletion, aggravated more recently by wartime demands, especially for pitprops for the South Wales coalfield. 1884 10 Nov. 7/3 There were 15 men..repairing the pit roads, in addition to an engineman half-way down. 1895 30 Apr. 7/6 The search party is now engaged in clearing the pit roads. 1977 15 July (Motor Racing Suppl.) p. ii/8 Dron pulled his Dolomite into the pits, mistakenly believing the race was over. But..he managed to pass the flag at the end of the pit road in time to win his class. 1999 20 Sept. d9/5 Joe Nemechek won the Dura Lube 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway yesterday in Loudon... Nemechek got a big break when Dale Jarrett, the Winston Cup points leader, was penalized for a pit-road violation. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing flax, hemp, or jute > treat or process flax, hemp, or jute [verb (transitive)] > ret 1808 C. Vancouver vii. 207 This flax is always pit-rotted for ten days or a fortnight. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > sand > [noun] > types of 1700 6 You may put three parts of Sand that is digged (or pit Sand) and one part of Lime to make Morter. 1876 W. H. Preece & J. Sivewright 185 A cement composed of equal parts by weight of fine pit sand, Portland cement, and plaster of Paris. 1944 W. Morgan in R. Greenhalgh ix. 28/1 The coarse aggregate usually consists of gravel and the fine aggregate of pit sand which is composed of hard siliceous grains (sea sand contains injurious salts). 2004 (Nexis) 25 Feb. (Country Living) 66 The best propagation medium or mix is one part each of coarse river or pit sand and coir (coco-peat). the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > fodder > silage 1887 H. E. P. Clinton 56 The quality of the material is certainly superior in many cases to pit silage. 1941 H. I. Moore iv. 64 The clamp really refers to a heap of silage made above ground level or in a shallow trench, whilst pit silage refers to the use of a pit several feet in depth. 2004 (Nexis) 27 Apr. A 100 ewe flock needs 3,000kg of dry matter for that month... This is equivalent to 18 round bales of silage or 1–1.5 acres of pit silage. the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > forage-store > silo 1886 R. S. Burn xx. 252 While the retaining or enclosing walls of the above-ground silo should not be less than nine inches, the lining walls of the pit silo may be very much thinner. 1947 3 45 A pit silo is merely a trench dug in the ground to convenient dimensions and, if properly drained, the wastage in these pits is less than that commonly experienced in many tower silos. 1993 Sept. 22/2 A pit silo, measuring 28′ wide by 10′ deep by 87′ long, was added to the new farm. 1890 (at cited word) Pit-specked. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > material taken from quarry 1659 A. Hay (1901) 76 St Jons kirk was content with the pitstones. 1726 W. Gibson (ed. 2) i. iii. 42 Lime-Stone, This is only a Kind of Pit-Stone, which is very hard. 2003 (Nexis) 8 Apr. 8 When it begins rehabilitating Kemira Colliery..BHP Billiton expects to excavate 90,000 tonnes of mining memoirs, including pit stone, coal refuse and the odd gumboot. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing with vehicles > motor racing > [noun] > actions 1915 27 June iii. 52/2 Frequent pit stops tended to cut down Resta's average, but the Vanderbilt winner continued in front at the end of 180 miles. 1957 3 Apr. iii. 28/2 Detective Urzik took the trio to Hollywood station. Murray made a pit stop at Hollywood Recovery for treatment of feet cuts. 1970 28 Sept. 22/4 Revson, forced to a pit stop on the 10th lap of the 210-mile race, easily beat out Ferrari's Jim Adams for third place. 1973 ‘E. Fenwick’ xx. 136 His wife..was relieved and pleased to see him, until she understood this was only a pit-stop. 1995 Mar. 33/1 Re-created as a pit stop during a Corvette race featuring the Mobil 1 Morrison Motorsports Corvette. 2003 Q Spring (Led Zeppelin Special ed.) 111 En route, Bonham made a pit stop at a pub where he consumed two ham rolls and necked four quadruple vodkas. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > place filled with debris 1883 W. S. Gresley 189 Pit-tip, a bank or heap upon which rubbish out of the mine is tipped. 1907 13 Apr. 10/1 In the Black Country may be seen birches growing luxuriantly on a pit-tip. 2004 (Nexis) 16 Mar. 7 The range of habitats is breathtaking, from pit tip heathland to open moor to species-rich grasslands [etc.]. the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > pit trap 1751 R. Morris p. v Discover they are on an island. Know not what part of the world they are in. Set their pit trap. Catch a calf. 1895 R. Kipling 20 It was a pointed stick, such as they set in the foot of a pit-trap. 1994 S. Pinker xi. 332 [Elephants] use their trunks to probe the ground as they walk, avoiding pit traps, and to dig wells and siphon water from them. the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > subfamily Crotalinae > member of (pit-viper) 1874 22 69 The Crotalidæ, or pit vipers. 1904 17 Sept. 670 The pit vipers..include the rattlesnakes of America and the trimensurus of India. 1995 July 34/2 Where he is pointing, coiled in loopy layers upon itself, lies an immobile serpent,..its wedge-shaped head and criss-crossed markings proclaiming it a pit viper. the world > matter > liquid > water > [noun] > from a spring, fountain, or well a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 153 Amonge wateres, put water is thikkest and worste to defye ffor saltnesse of the erþe and for stondyng of the watir. 1582 S. Batman xiii. i. 190 Other waters spring and walme out of the inner parts of the earth, as well water and pit water. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny II. 407 Surely, wel-water or pit-water..is simply the wholsomest. 1738 J. Burton 48 The Inhabitants [of Guinea] are forced to drink Pit Water. 1844 7 108/1 If the pit water be vitriolic..it becomes necessary to use every means to procure better water. 1927 W. H. Bragg vi. 237 There are certain chemical actions which are set going during mining operations, and particularly the action of acid pit water. 2004 (Nexis) 1 Mar. 6 These units have raised pit water with high sand content to heights of 1.2 km and transported mineral materials over horizontal distances of 11 km. the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > well 1756 F. Home iii. ii. 121 All pit-well waters are hard, and contain a nitrous acid joined to an absorbent base. 1844 H. Stephens I. 362 Spring-water should be obtained..by sinking pit-wells. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > wood for other specific uses 1715 R. Thoresby 453 Lignum fossile or Pitwood of different Colours, great Quantities are dug up in the Levels in Yorkeshire and Lancashire. 1841 C. H. Hartshorne 532 Pit wood, wood which is thus called generally runs from three feet six inches to four feet in length, and is very thick. It is used for supporting the roof of a coal pit. 1890 24 Nov. 2/4 The pitwood trade is also quieter. 2000 (Nexis) 1 Jan. 15 In those days..we handled zinc concentrates, pig iron, pit props and pit wood from all parts of the world. society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > pit equipment 1773 13 (heading) The conclusion of the pit-work. 1779 M. Boulton & J. Watt in E. Robinson & A. E. Musson (1969) 148 Examine the state of the condenser, and rectify any thing you may find amiss; and while these things are doing the pitwork should not be neglected, that one stoppage may serve for all. 1855 J. R. Leifchild 189 Details of the weight and cost of the ‘pitwork’ (or the parts of the machinery working in the shaft or pit). 1871 W. Morgans 156 Fig. 171 shows a ‘set’ or ‘moil’, used for cutting ground where it requires to be done evenly, such as in the case of cutting ‘hitches’, or preparing seatings for pit work. 1883 W. S. Gresley 189 Pit work, the whole system of pumps and pump-rods, &c., in a pumping or engine-pit. 1991 27 Mar. 10/1 The machine pit work will require excavating solid rock up to 4m beneath the water table level. Derivatives 1855 6 Feb. 4/6 The oxhides afford..a flooring of the pit-like tent. 1908 E. Wharton vii. 98 Glimpses of pit-like gardens, black and sunless. 1967 G. M. Wyburn et al. iv. 121 They produce small pit-like depressions on the inner aspect of the skull bones. 2001 65 213 A group of ditch and pit-like anomalies was interpreted as either possible settlement features or as due to recent quarrying. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022). pitn.2 Origin: Apparently a borrowing from Dutch. Etymon: Dutch pit. Etymology: Apparently < Dutch pit stone or pip of a fruit, kernel of a nut (see pith n.).In quot. 1947 at sense 1b after Afrikaans pit; compare dennebol n. 1. the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > stone-fruit or drupe > stone or formation of stone the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > [noun] > parts of fruit > stone 1803 J. Minshull v. i. 55 Peach-pit bitters, is a digester, and agreeable to the stomach. 1851 Feb. 154/1 When I was eight years old,..a larger boy..made me believe that if I put the pit of a small thorn apple..into each ear, and one in each nostril, and pushing them well home, and then, sneezing well, they would all come tumbling out of my mouth. 1873 W. Mathews 26 One man may suck an orange and be choked by a pit, another swallow a penknife and live. 1876 C. C. Robinson Pit, a fruitstone. 1913 C. Pettman 375 Pit... This word is in common use in South Africa as a name for the stones of fruit. It is used with the same meaning in New York, and is a remnant there of the old Dutch occupation. 1951 J. Steinbeck i. 8 The bitter seed that's like the inside of a peach pit. 1972 ‘E. Lathen’ x. 93 She called him an avocado without a pit. 2001 July 46/1 The flesh of a clingstone peach adheres to the pit when the fruit is cut open. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > other edible seeds > pine-seeds 1947 L. G. Green viii. 65 Sweets made of sugar, water, eggs, naartjie peel and dennebol pits. 1973 13 Oct. 12 The current price of dennepits, when available, has risen higher than pine trees.] 1982 J. Bernstein in 138 The center of an atomic bomb is a perfect sphere of uranium or plutonium. I believe it was called the ‘pit’. The pits looked like shiny bowling balls. 1993 Aug. 34/2 The hollow, spherical ‘pit’ of the primary holds the warhead's plutonium, three to four kilograms on average, sometimes with some highly enriched uranium. 1996 Nov. 31 Then the heart of the bomb is removed—the ‘physics package’, high explosives wrapped around the nuclear fuel ‘pit’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pitv.1 Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pit n.1 I. Literal applications. the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [verb (transitive)] > pit or clamp society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > confine [verb (transitive)] > confine in specific type of place the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > bury or entomb [verb (transitive)] 1454–5 in J. D. Marwick (1871) 81 The persoun of the barounry of Lestalrig salbe fauorably arrestit and nouthir pittit na ill prisonyt. c1485 ( G. Hay (2005) 223 To pytt the men of kirk na [= nor] prisoun thame..war bot crueltee. 1621 T. Granger 213 They..liued like beasts, and were pitted like beasts, tumbled into the graue. 1776 Aug. 190 Let the..hips..be gathered ripe, and pitted in the ground. 1844 H. Stephens II. 657 In consequence of the wet state in which they had been pitted. 1850 S. G. Osborne 196 He dug and pitted the potatoes. 1880 R. Jefferies I. 13 It [sc. the hay] might have been pitted in the earth and preserved still green. 1900 W. Rennie ix. 75 Potatoes will keep much better during the winter if, after digging, they are pitted in the field for ten days that they may sweat. 1988 24 June 64/1 The trees were ‘pitted’, which means each little tree site was dug out with a hoe and fertilized, and the seedling planted into the pit or hole. 2003 (Nexis) 8 Nov. 6 The corn..safely stacked, the potatoes snugly pitted. 2. the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > form a recess in [verb (transitive)] > form as an indentation > make small indentations in the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [verb (transitive)] > pit the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > recede or form recess [verb (intransitive)] > be or become indented > make indentation > make small indentations 1487 VI. 391/1 The Pavyng [etc.] ben so decayed, broken, and holowid and pitted, by water fallyng out of Gutters. 1661 O. Feltham xxiv. (heading) On a Gentlewoman, whose Nose was pitted with the Small Pox. 1677 Lady Chaworth in (1890) App. v. 42 Lady Anne, is recovered well, but will be pitted, as 'tis feared, with the small pox. 1725 R. Bradley at Small Pox Secrets to hinder the Small Pox to Pit. 1787 G. Colman ii. 24 Well, well, I have seen him; pitted with the small pox and a red face. 1830 F. Marryat II. vi. 95 The balls only pitted in the water, without doing any harm. 1880 C. E. L. Riddell xiii Like small-pox,..it pits and sears and marks most souls. 1891 C. T. C. James 53 Great drops of rain began to pit the white dusty roads. 1936 J. Cary i. 14 A long tobacco-coloured face, deeply pitted by smallpox. 1968 N. S. Momaday 59 He would have wanted it to be a crust of oven bread, heavy and moist, pitted with cinders and ash. 1990 F. Fyfield (1991) vii. 125 Inside, the worn floors were pitted with cigarette burns beneath No Smoking signs. society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (transitive)] > dig (hole, etc.) > dig pit 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour (Adv.) xi. 395 On ayer sid rycht weill braid It wes pittyt [1487 St John's Cambr. pottit; 1616 Hart potted]. 1843 J. Smith 63 When the ground is pitted, a person..places a plant in each pit. 1869 J. Phillips viii. 211 This surface is pitted over by artificial diggings. 1970 R. J. Small xi. 384 A bare tract of boulders, gravels and sand separates the two glacier snouts, and is pitted by numerous circular water-filled hollows (‘kettles’) marking small masses of ice that..became trapped in the debris, and subsequently melted. 1993 (Nexis) 12 June a3 Every inch of the ground has been pitted with heavy projectiles. 2003 (Nexis) 11 Apr. l1 The site resembles an archaeological dig... The ground is pitted with grave shafts in various stages of being opened or closed. the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > become blemished [verb (intransitive)] > pit 1677 R. Josselin (1976) 607 My leg swells and pitts very much. 1737 H. Bracken xxxi. 454 If the Legs of your Horse pit, upon the Impression of the Fingers. 1745 II. 43 He found a large Tumor, that lay deep, yielding to his Fingers, and pitting like dough. 1764 2 cvi. 356 As soon as the sod is all burnt, and he finds the land pits. 1771 T. Smollett I. 44 My right ancle pits, a symptom, as I take it, of its being œdematous, not leucophlegmatic. 1873 T. H. Green (ed. 2) 58 The organ..feels doughy, and pits on pressure with the finger. 1887 29 Oct. 276/3 How to remove varnish from a panel after it has pitted. 1949 H. Bailey (ed. 11) xiv. 142 If one leg is œdematous and pits on pressure, it is highly probable that there is thrombosis in the corresponding iliac vein. 1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. (ed. 2) II. xiii. 397/2 The swelling of lymphatic oedema is initially painless, pits readily, and subsides at night. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fight a person [verb (transitive)] > set people or animals to fight in pit or enclosure 1760 R. Heber ix. p. xxii Before any cocks are pitted. 1770 S. Pegge Let. in (1775) 3 149 The Welsh-main consists, we will suppose of sixteen pair of cocks; of these the sixteen conquerors are pitted a second time; the eight conquerors of these are pitted a third time [etc.]. 1814 64 71 Two of the gamest little men ever pitted for twenty-five guineas. 1851 J. G. Bruff Jrnl. 24 June in (1944) II. v. 971 A rough dilapidated enclosure of wooden rails, within which..Mexicanes, were pitting their fowls, and betting. 1888 11 A dog..should..have thirty minutes rest before pitting him. 1939 ‘N. West’ xxi. 179 ‘Pit your cocks,’ he called. ‘No, bill them first,’ the dwarf protested. He and Miguel stood at arm's length and thrust their birds together to anger them. 2000 C. F. Price iii. 49 He pitted Gouger again and stepped away, and the instant he did Gouger sprang and slashed the Traveler deep under one wing. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing with vehicles > motor racing > take part in motor racing [verb (intransitive)] > stop at pit 1961 May 44/2 He and Petty both pitted for fuel midway through the 150-mile race. 1967 5 Oct. 39/3 Mike Spence..was in the seventh place..when he pitted on lap 36 with sudden engine trouble. 1978 ‘D. Rutherford’ 62 The rain came bucketing down... There was nothing for it but to pit, fit rain tyres and splosh cautiously round. 1996 20 May (Sport) 1/2 Alesi led for 19 laps then handling problems, apparently with a rear wheel in particular, forced him to pit and concede the ascendancy. II. Figurative uses. the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (transitive)] > set in opposition society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > compete with [verb (transitive)] > match (one's strength or skill) against a rival society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > compete with [verb (transitive)] > set in competition 1754 No. 15. ⁋5 What in gaming dialect is called Pitting one man against another; that is,..wagering which of the two will live longest. 1788 B. Lincoln in J. Sparks (1853) IV. 222 Federalism and anti-federalism were pitted one against the other. 1826 W. Scott 7 Feb. (1939) 92 As a lion-catcher, I could pit her against the world. 1887 M. Creighton (1897) III. iii. ix. 25 The two Popes were now pitted one against the other. 1908 13 July 8/2 The year's best horses are known only after the great meetings of Longchamp and Chantilly, and..the winners in these two races are usually pitted against the winners of previous years. 1928 A. E. Pease 96/1 Thae tweea dogs is well pitted. 1960 B. Bettelheim v. 187 A single overwhelming organization, the SS, was pitted against a very weak one. 1993 11 Jan. 27/2 Beyond this complicated dispute lie a slew of others that pit environmental moderates against true-believing Greens. Phrases1672 Duke of Buckingham i. 3 It shall read..and act, and plot, and shew, ay, and pit, box and gallery, I gad, with any Play in Europe. 1708 W. King 35 I doubt not but his Ale, Rasher, Grapes, Peaches, and shrivel'd Apples might Pit— Box— and Gallery-it well enough. 1732 Introd. p. vii I'll warrant it shall Pit, Box, and Gallery with any Play that has been acted this Season. 1831 T. B. Macaulay in June 564 The rants of his rhyming plays would have pitted it, boxed it, and galleried it, with those of any Bayes or Bilboa. 1855 21 Apr. 311/2 He..sought to pit, box, and gallery it by a tragedy called Cleone. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pitv.2Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pit n.2 Etymology: < pit n.2 Compare earlier pitted adj.2 and slightly earlier pitter n.2 Originally North American. the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparing fruit and vegetables > prepare fruit and vegetables [verb (transitive)] > remove stones or seeds 1879 28 Aug. We've had 300 girls in this place at one time pitting cherries from morning til night. 1889 J. Whitehead 298/2 Peaches, pears, etc., are pared cut in half as for canning; plums, cherries, etc., are pitted. 1906 A. I. Judge 85 Stem the cherries, remove all leaves, pit by any appropriate method. 1937 16 232/2 Washed apricots were pitted, steamed, passed through the fine screen of an..extractor. 1954 Oct. 132/1 (caption) Pit 30 large dates and stuff them with cooked orange rind. 2003 (Nexis) 24 Sept. d3 Core, pit, peel and/or slice the fruit as needed. Sweeten with honey or sugar, if desired. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022). pitint. Origin: An imitative or expressive formation. Etymology: Imitative. In use with reference to the beating of the heart after pit-a-pat adv. Compare pat int. Now rare. 1784 L. MacNally i. 18 Bless me! how it beats—pit, pit, pit, pat—Heigh ho! my complaint I find is the heart-burn and palpitation. 1809 J. C. Cross vi. 22 My throbbing heart, With anxious beat, Pit, pit, pat, in my breast, Seems to impart A glowing heat. 1886 J. J. Hissey 56 Pit, pit, pit, dashed the wind-driven drops against our window panes. 1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ i. 13 Pit-pit-pit you may hear sharply..and you wonder if a note so disagreeable can really come from the wonderful songster on the branch above your head. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.1eOE n.21803 v.11454v.21879 int.1784 |
