pit
1 [pit]
noun, verb, pit⋅ted, pit⋅ting.| 1. | a naturally formed or excavated hole or cavity in the ground: pits caused by erosion; clay pits. |
| 2. | a covered or concealed excavation in the ground, serving as a trap. |
| 3. | Mining.
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| 4. | the abode of evil spirits and lost souls; hell: an evil inspiration from the pit. |
| 5. | the pits, Slang. an extremely unpleasant, boring, or depressing place, condition, person, etc.; the absolute worst: When you're alone, Christmas is the pits. |
| 6. | a hollow or indentation in a surface: glass flawed by pits. |
| 7. | a natural hollow or depression in the body: the pit of the back. |
| 8. | pits, Informal. the armpits: up to my pits in work. |
| 9. | a small, depressed scar, as one of those left on the skin after smallpox or chicken pox. |
| 10. | an enclosure, usually below the level of the spectators, as for staging fights between dogs, cocks, or, formerly, bears. |
| 11. | (in a commodity exchange) a part of the floor of the exchange where trading in a particular commodity takes place: the corn pit. |
| 12. | Architecture.
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| 13. | (in a hoistway) a space below the level of the lowest floor served. |
| 14. | Auto Racing. an area at the side of a track, for servicing and refueling the cars. |
| 15. | Bowling. the sunken area of a bowling alley behind the pins, for the placement or recovery of pins that have been knocked down. |
| 16. | Track. the area forward of the takeoff point in a jumping event, as the broad jump or pole vault, that is filled with sawdust or soft earth to lessen the force of the jumper's landing. |
| 17. | the area or room of a casino containing gambling tables. |
| 18. | to mark or indent with pits or depressions: ground pitted by erosion. |
| 19. | to scar with pockmarks: His forehead was pitted by chicken pox. |
| 20. | to place or bury in a pit, as for storage. |
| 21. | to set in opposition or combat, as one against another. |
| 22. | to put (animals) in a pit or enclosure for fighting. |
| 23. | to become marked with pits or depressions. |
| 24. | (of body tissue) to retain temporarily a mark of pressure, as by a finger, instrument, etc. |
bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE pytt < L puteus well, pit, shaft; (v.) deriv. of the n.

21. match, oppose.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.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.Cite This Source
pit (1)
pit (2)
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Pit
A specific area of the trading floor that is designated for the trading of an individual futures or options contract.
Investopedia Commentary
You've probably seen pictures of traders wildly thrashing their arms and yelling orders in the trading pit. Although it may look like a poorly coordinated Village People concert, there is actual trading going on.
Related Links
Understanding Order Execution
Options Basics Tutorial
Futures Fundamentals
See also: Open Outcry, Rings
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pit
- A location on a commodities exchange trading floor where the futures of a particular commodity are traded. Also called ring.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Main Entry: 1pit
Pronunciation: 'pit
Function: noun
: a hollow or indentation especially in a surface of an organism: as a : anatural hollow in the surface of the body b : one of the indented scars left in the skin by a pustular disease :
Main Entry: 2pit
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: pit·ted; pit·ting
transitive senses
: to make pits in;especially : to scar or mark with pits pitted by acne> pit intransitive senses
: to become marked with pits; especially : to preserve for a time an indentation made by pressure pits readily —A. B. Wade>
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pit (pĭt)
n.
- A natural hollow or depression in the body or an organ.
- A pockmark.
- A sharp-pointed depression in the enamel surface of a tooth, caused by faulty or incomplete calcification or formed by the confluent point of two or more lobes of enamel.
- To mark with cavities, depressions, or scars.
- To retain an impression after being indented. Used of the skin.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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| pit (pĭt) Pronunciation Key
The hard, inner layer (the endocarp) of certain drupes that are valued for their flesh, such as peaches, cherries, or olives. Not in scientific use. |
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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PIT
Language for IBM 650. (See IT).
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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).
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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PIT
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.

