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pit |
7 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Cyclone cellar \Cyclone cellar\ or pit \pit\ . A cellar or excavation used for refuge from a cyclone, or tornado. [Middle U. S.] From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pit \Pit\, n. [OE. pit, put AS pytt a pit, hole, L. puteus a well pit.] 1. A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation; specifically: a The shaft of a coal mine; a coal pit. b A large hole in the ground from which material is dug or quarried; as a stone pit; a gravel pit; or in which material is made by burning; as a lime pit; a charcoal pit. c A vat sunk in the ground; as a tan pit. Tumble me into some loathsome pit. --Shak. 2. Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades. Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained. --Milton. He keepth back his soul from the pit. --Job xxxiii 18. 3. A covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall; hence a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively. The anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits. --Lam. iv 20. 4. A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body; as: a The hollow place under the shoulder or arm; the axilla, or armpit. b See {Pit of the stomach} (below). c The indentation or mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox. 5. Formerly, that part of a theater, on the floor of the house, below the level of the stage and behind the orchestra; now in England, commonly the part behind the stalls; in the United States, the parquet; also the occupants of such a part of a theater. 6. An inclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats. ``As fiercely as two gamecocks in the pit.'' --Locke. 7. [Cf. D. pit, akin to E. pith.] (Bot.) a The endocarp of a drupe, and its contained seed or seeds; a stone; as a peach pit; a cherry pit, etc b A depression or thin spot in the wall of a duct. {Cold pit} (Hort.), an excavation in the earth, lined with masonry or boards, and covered with glass, but not artificially heated, -- used in winter for the storing and protection of half-hardly plants, and sometimes in the spring as a forcing bed. {Pit coal}, coal dug from the earth; mineral coal. {Pit frame}, the framework over the shaft of a coal mine. {Pit head}, the surface of the ground at the mouth of a pit or mine. {Pit kiln}, an oven for coking coal. {Pit martin} (Zo["o]l.), the bank swallow. [Prov. Eng.] {Pit of the stomach} (Anat.), the depression on the middle line of the epigastric region of the abdomen at the lower end of the sternum; the infrasternal depression. {Pit saw} (Mech.), a saw worked by two men, one of whom stands on the log and the other beneath it The place of the latter is often in a pit, whence the name {Pit viper} (Zo["o]l.), any viperine snake having a deep pit on each side of the snout. The rattlesnake and copperhead are examples. {Working pit} (Min.), a shaft in which the ore is hoisted and the workmen carried; -- in distinction from a shaft used for the pumps. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pit \Pit\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pitted}; p. pr & vb n. {Pitting}.] 1. To place or put into a pit or hole. They lived like beasts, and were pitted like beasts, tumbled into the grave. --T. Grander. 2. To mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as a face pitted by smallpox. 3. To introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a contest; as to pit one dog against another. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: pit n 1: a sizeable hole (usually in the ground); "they dug a pit to bury the body" [syn: {cavity}] 2: a concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression) [syn: {fossa}] 3: the single central seed in some fruits such as peaches and cherries enclosed in a hard woody shell [syn: {stone}] 4: a trap in the form of a concealed hole [syn: {pitfall}] 5: an open-surface excavation for extracting stone or slate: "a British term for `quarry' is `stone pit'" [syn: {quarry}, {stone pit}] 6: lowered area in front of a stage where an orchestra accompanies the performers [syn: {orchestra pit}] 7: a coal mine and all the buildings and equipment connected with it [syn: {colliery}] v 1: set into opposition or rivalry [syn: {oppose}, {match}] 2: mark with a scar; "The skin disease scarred his face permanently" [syn: {scar}, {mark}, {pock}] 3: remove the pits from as of certain fruit such as peaches [syn: {stone}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: PIT Language for IBM 650. (See {IT}). From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Pit a hole in the ground (Ex. 21:33, 34), a cistern for water (Gen. 37:24; Jer. 14:3), a vault (41:9), a grave (Ps. 30:3). It is used as a figure for mischief (Ps. 9:15), and is the name given to the unseen place of woe (Rev. 20:1, 3). The slime-pits in the vale of Siddim were wells which yielded asphalt (Gen. 14:10). From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001 [vera]: PIT Programmable Interval Timer
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