pits

British

/ pɪts /

plural noun

slang the worst possible person, place, or thing

"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

Etymology

Origin of pits

C20: perhaps shortened from armpits

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The move pits WPP, which typically works with Fortune 500 companies, in competition with Meta, which dominates small-business advertising.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Antonelli gained enough time on his fresher tyres to be ahead when Norris came out of the pits.

From BBC • May 3, 2026

The legal clash across the bay from San Francisco pits the world's richest person against a startup Musk once backed and now competes with in the booming AI sector.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

Producers roast the rounded hearts of agave plants in fire pits or kilns, then crush and ferment the cooked material before distilling it in smaller batches.

From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2026

Just a few yards away was a huge hole, one of the grave-like pits caused by the earthquake.

From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023