pit

noun [C] (PLACE/AREA)

/pɪt/

Definition

C2 a large hole in the ground, or a slightly low area in any surface: They'd dug a shallow pit and left the bodies in it. These pits in my skin are from when I had chickenpox. → See also armpit, sandpitCaves, cracks and crevicesHoles, hollows and dips › a coal mine or an area of land from which a natural substance is taken by digging: The coal-mining industry wants new pits to be opened. a gravel/chalk pitMining and quarrying › slang a very untidy or dirty place: I'm afraid my room is a complete pit!Unpleasant placesPlaces and locations the pit [S] › in a theatre, the seats at the lowest level, or the orchestra pitTheatre auditorium and front-of-house the pits [plural] › informal something that is of extremely low quality: The hotel we stayed in was the pits!Informal words for badRubbish and wasteSerious and unpleasantNot of good quality › the area next to a motor race track where the cars are given fuel or repaired during a raceMotor racing

(Definition of pit noun (PLACE/AREA) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)