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).

[Hell]

PIT. This term is used to render several Hebrew words. It denotes a cistern or a reservoir, which the Eastern people are in the habit of preparing in those regions where there are few or no springs for the purpose of preserving rain-water for travellers and cattle. These cisterns and trenches are often without water, there being no supply for them except from the rain. It was into such a dry cistern that Joseph was cast. In old decayed cisterns the water leaks out or becomes slimy, and such a pit becomes the image of dreariness and misery. Jer 2:13; Ps 40:2; Zech 9:11. Next, the word is used for the grave and as an image of the realm of death, Ps 28:1; Isa 30:3, Ps 30:9; Ps 88:4, and finally it is employed as the name of the game-trap. Eze 19:8. The pit here spoken of is used at this day in all wild countries. A deep hole in the earth is covered very slightly with boughs or shrubs, upon which is placed a living lamb, which by its cries allures the lion or wolf; and when the beast makes a sudden spring upon his prey, he is caught in the pit below. This affords a significant figure of the devices of crafty men and devils. Ps 119:85; Prov 26:27; Eze 19:4.

PIT. This term is used to render several Hebrew words. It denotes a cistern or a reservoir, which the Eastern people are in the habit of preparing in those regions where there are few or no springs for the purpose of preserving rain-water for travellers and cattle. These cisterns and trenches are often without water, there being no supply for them except from the rain. It was into such a dry cistern that Joseph was cast. In old decayed cisterns the water leaks out or becomes slimy, and such a pit becomes the image of dreariness and misery. Jer 2:13; Ps 40:2; Zech 9:11. Next, the word is used for the grave and as an image of the realm of death, Ps 28:1; Isa 30:3, Ps 30:9; Ps 88:4, and finally it is employed as the name of the game-trap. Eze 19:8. The pit here spoken of is used at this day in all wild countries. A deep hole in the earth is covered very slightly with boughs or shrubs, upon which is placed a living lamb, which by its cries allures the lion or wolf; and when the beast makes a sudden spring upon his prey, he is caught in the pit below. This affords a significant

figure of the devices of crafty men and devils. Ps 119:85; Prov 26:27; Eze 19:4.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation; specifically:

2. The shaft of a coal mine; a coal pit.

3. 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.

4. A vat sunk in the ground; as, a tan pit. Tumble me into some loathsome pit. Shak.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body; as:

8. The hollow place under the shoulder or arm; the axilla, or armpit.

9. See Pit of the stomach (below).

10. The indentation or mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. The endocarp of a drupe, and its contained seed or seeds; a stone; as, a peach pit; a cherry pit, etc.

14. 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

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.