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

They opened for dealing in the pits of the Kansas City Board of Trade.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

To date, La Brea Tar Pits researchers have unearthed millions of samples from the pits dating back 50,000 years and still conduct daily open-air excavations.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026

Charities and local activists try to remove children from the pits and place them back into school, but without reliable alternatives for income, the pits are too attractive.

From BBC • Dec. 9, 2025

The following morning, I returned to the pits of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and reignited the ritual, without the same luck.

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025

A sleep deeper than the hospital drugs; deeper than the pits of plums, steadier than the condor’s wing; more tranquil than the curve of eggs.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison