conversation pit

American  

noun

1. a usually sunken portion of a room or living area with chairs, sofas, etc., often grouped around a fireplace, where people can gather to talk.

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Example Sentences

“I envisioned ‘Tofu’ as a conversation pit in some living room with lots of carpet, cushions and instruments,” Caloncho, whose real name is Óscar Alfonso Castro Valenzuela, tells me over Zoom.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2025

The circular sofa is a place to gather, a spiritual descendent of that uniquely suburban, utopian symbol of togetherness: the conversation pit.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2022

Sitting alone in a conversation pit signified an absence; sitting alone on a sectional sofa, which could, theoretically, quickly convert back to conversational furniture, didn’t make us feel quite so lonely.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2022

“The pendulum swings on these architectural styles, and people eventually want to follow the new styles. As the conversation pit started being associated with a bygone era, people let it go,” Kawsky said.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 15, 2022

It was one of several arranged in a sunken conversation pit.

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn