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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tumble me into some loathsome pit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades. [ 1913 Webster ]

Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

He keepth back his soul from the pit. Job xxxiii. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall; hence, a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

The anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits. Lam. iv. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 (Zool.), 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 stop, See pit stop in the vocabulary. --
Pit viper (Zool.), 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pitted p. pr. & vb. n. Pitting. ] 1. To place or put into a pit or hole. [ 1913 Webster ]

They lived like beasts, and were pitted like beasts, tumbled into the grave. T. Grander. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as, a face pitted by smallpox. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a contest; as, to pit one dog against another. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Sp. ] (Bot.) (a) A fiber obtained from the Agave Americana and other related species, -- used for making cordage and paper. Called also pita fiber, and pita thread. (b) The plant which yields the fiber. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ Sp. ] A thin flat bread that is formed in two layers, to make a pocket into which other foods may be placed. [ PJC ]

n. [ Sp., prob. from the native name. ] (Bot.) A cactaceous shrub (Cereus Pitajaya) of tropical America, which yields a delicious fruit. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ An onomatopoetic reduplication of pat a light, quick blow. ] In a flutter; with palpitation or quick succession of beats. Lowell. “The fox's heart went pitapat.” L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A light, repeated sound; a pattering, as of the rain. “The pitapat of a pretty foot.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp. “Laban with his brethren pitched in the Mount of Gilead.” Gen. xxxi. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tree whereon they [ the bees ] pitch. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To fix one's choise; -- with on or upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the more easy. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To plunge or fall; esp., to fall forward; to decline or slope; as, to pitch from a precipice; the vessel pitches in a heavy sea; the field pitches toward the east. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pitch and pay, an old aphorism which inculcates ready-money payment, or payment on delivery of goods. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OE. picchen; akin to E. pick, pike. ] 1. To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To thrust or plant in the ground, as stakes or poles; hence, to fix firmly, as by means of poles; to establish; to arrange; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To set or fix, as a price or value. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pitched battle, a general battle; a battle in which the hostile forces have fixed positions; -- in distinction from a skirmish. --
To pitch into, to attack; to assault; to abuse. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pitched p. pr. & vb. n. Pitching. ] [ See Pitch, n. ] 1. To cover over or smear with pitch. Gen. vi. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure. [ 1913 Webster ]

The welkin pitched with sullen could. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]