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

But with Labour’s approval rating in the pits, backbenchers rebelled against the prospect of a rate increase.

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Hulkenberg succeeded in guiding his damaged car back to the pits for repairs – a new front and rear wing - and was permitted to rejoin the fray once the barriers were repaired.

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The university said the pits may be connected to underground cave networks that could provide natural shelter from harmful radiation and micrometeorite impacts, as well as harbour water ice.

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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.

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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.

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