the pits

Idioms  

1. The worst possible situation, as in Spending your birthday working alone is the pits, or That job is the pits. The allusion in this term is unclear. Some think it refers to coal pits, others to armpits, and still others to the area beside an auto racecourse, also called the pits, where cars are serviced during a race. [Second half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

the pits

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

From BBC ● May 3, 2026

In the days of floor trading, those working in the pits needed to be human calculators, instantly assessing how prices fluctuated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

Palou, whose Ganassi team excelled in the pits last April, agreed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026

Stranded out on track with a gearbox malfunction, he made it back to the pits where the team rushed to fix a problem they could not identify.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026

Soon it appeared as a great winged creature, blacker than the pits in the night.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien