Meaning

• A hole in the ground.

  "The meadow around the town is full of old pits."

• An area at a racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a race.

  "Two drivers have already gone into the pit this early in the race."

• A section of the marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to march, such as the tam tam. Also, the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.

• A mine.

• A hole or trench in the ground, excavated according to grid coordinates, so that the provenance of any feature observed and any specimen or artifact revealed may be established by precise measurement.

• A trading pit.

• The bottom part of something.

  "I felt pain in the pit of my stomach."

• Armpit.

• A luggage hold.

• A small surface hole or depression, a fossa.

• The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.

• The grave, or underworld.

• An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.

• Formerly, that part of a theatre, 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 theatre.

• Part of a casino which typically holds tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and other games.

• A pit bull terrier.

  "I'm taking one of my pits to the vet on Thursday."

• A mosh pit.

  "Because the museum was closed for renovation, the school decided to bring its fourth-graders to the pit at a Cannibal Corpse gig instead."

• (law enforcement, usually used with "maneuver") A maneuver by which a police officer, by use of a police car, nudges the vehicle of a fleeing suspect enough for the suspect's vehicle to lose control and become disabled so the police officer can catch and apprehend the suspect.

• The fissile core of a nuclear weapon, commonly made of plutonium surrounded by high-explosive lenses.

• (hospital slang) The emergency department.

Meaning

• To make pits in; to mark with little hollows.

  "Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal."

• To put (an animal) into a pit for fighting.

• To bring (something) into opposition with something else.

  "Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?"

• To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.