pitfall

[ pit-fawl ]

/ ˈpɪtˌfɔl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pitfall ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a lightly covered and unnoticeable pit prepared as a trap for people or animals.

any trap or danger for the unwary: the pitfall of excessive pride.

Nearby words

pitchstone, pitchy, piteous, piteously, pitesti, pitfall, pith, pith helmet, pith ray, pithead, pithecanthrope

Origin of pitfall

1275–1325; Middle English pittefalle, equivalent to pitte pit¹ + falle (Old English fealle) trap

SYNONYMS FOR pitfall

1, 2 See trap¹.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pitfall ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pitfall

The second pitfall is that Tendulkar has given the reader little of what should be a gripping, meaningful story of his life.
The Story of the World’s Greatest Cricket Player|William O’Connor|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It points up the major pitfall of academic boycotts, a pitfall so serious as to make them counterproductive.
Sydney’s ‘Blind To The Person’ BDS|Sigal Samuel|December 12, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The Israel Project's novel defense of building civilian settlements in E1, however, has many a pitfall.
A Bogus Defense Of E1 Construction|Ali Gharib|December 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One pitfall: text contributions are capped at $10 each per message and $200 a person under FEC regulations.
Will Text-Message Contributions Save Obama’s Reelection Effort?|Miranda Green|June 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Be on guard, especially, against co-dependence—a Libra pitfall.
The Stars Predict Your Week|Starsky + Cox|September 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Woman was disparaged and suspected; all thinkers, down to Thomas and Anselm, looking upon her merely as a snare and a pitfall.
The Evolution of Love|Emil Lucka
Suddenly, my horse swerved on one side, and I saw that he had narrowly escaped a pitfall.
Adventures in Africa|W.H.G. Kingston
For the wary wolf dreads the pitfall, and the hawk the suspected snares, and the kite the concealed hook.
The Works of Horace|Horace
The text faltered; it was terribly two-edged; but Carlton had not perceived the pitfall until he was over the brink.
Peccavi|E. W. Hornung
If there was any angle, he seemed somehow to knock against it; and if there was any pitfall, it was he who fell into it.
The Candidate|Joseph Alexander Altsheler

British Dictionary definitions for pitfall

pitfall

/ (ˈpɪtˌfɔːl) /

noun

an unsuspected difficulty or danger

a trap in the form of a concealed pit, designed to catch men or wild animals

Word Origin for pitfall

Old English pytt pit 1 + fealle trap

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pitfall

pitfall

c.1300, "concealed hole," a type of animal trap, from pit (n.1) + fall (n.). Extended sense of "any hidden danger" is first recorded early 15c.

pitfall

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of pitfall

Examples from the Web for pitfall

British Dictionary definitions for pitfall

pitfall

noun

Word Origin for pitfall

Word Origin and History for pitfall

pitfall