the pits

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]

Example Sentences

The incident happened on the run to the final corner, where Norris was on the inside coming into the pits as Verstappen sought to complete his lap.

From BBC

The session was stopped while officials tried to resolve the problem, giving McLaren time to fix a power-unit issue that that had been discovered on Piastri's car on his first lap out of the pits.

From BBC

There will be arguments that the situations were not comparable - and that a fault in the pits is just part of the twisting fortunes of racing.

From BBC

And when he left the pits for his final run in the final session, he questioned the team's choice of soft tyres, saying: "I thought I said I wanted the mediums."

From BBC

The company also plans to make the greenhouses portable which will allow the pits underneath to be emptied and have fresh waste put in.

From BBC