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Cave vs Pit - What's the difference?

cave | pit |

As nouns the difference between cave and pit

is that cave is a large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground, or in the face of a cliff or a hillside while pit is a hole in the ground.

As verbs the difference between cave and pit

is that cave is to surrender while pit is to make pits in.

As an interjection cave

is look out!; beware.

As a proper noun Cave

is {{surname}.

cave

English

Etymology 1

(etyl), from (etyl) ).

Noun

(en noun)
  • A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground, or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.
  • * , chapter=16
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.
  • * {{quote-book, 1918, Edward Alfred Steiner, Uncle Joe's Lincoln citation
    • , passage=Every boy at one time or another has dug a cave ; I suppose because ages and ages ago his ancestors had to live in caves,
  • A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.
  • A place of retreat, such as a man cave.
  • (caving) A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.
  • (nuclear physics) A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.
  • * {{quote-book, 1986, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Radiation Alarms and Access Control Systems, page=45 citation
    • , passage=These potential radiation fields or radioactive material levels may be the result of normal operations (ie, radiation in a target cave )
  • (drilling, uncountable) Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.
  • * {{quote-book, 1951, James Deans Cumming, Diamond Drill Handbook, page=134 citation
    • , passage=
  • (mining) A collapse or cave-in.
  • * {{quote-book, 1885, (Angelo Heilprin), Town Geology: The Lesson of the Philadelphia Rocks, page=79 citation
    • , passage=The "breasts" of marble which unite the opposite lateral walls have been left standing in order to prevent a possible cave of the wall on either side.}}
  • The vagina.
  • * {{quote-book, 1976, (Chester Himes), My Life of Absurdity, page=59 citation
    • , passage=Then without a word she lay on her back in the bed, her dark blond pubic hair rising about her dark wet cave like dried brush about a hidden spring.}}
  • A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.
  • * {{quote-book, 1964, Leon D. Epstein, British Politics in the Suez Crisis, page=125 citation
    • , passage=Without joining the cave , Hyde had abstained both in December 1956 and May 1957.}}
  • (obsolete) Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • the cave of the ear
    Synonyms
    *
    Derived terms
    * caveman * cave painting * cavewoman

    Verb

    (cav)
  • To surrender.
    • He caved under pressure.
  • To collapse.
    • First the braces buckled, then the roof began to cave , then we ran.
  • To hollow out or undermine.
    • The levee has been severely caved by the river current.
  • To engage in the recreational exploration of caves; to spelunk.
    • I have caved from Yugoslavia to Kentucky.
    Let's go caving this weekend.
  • (mining) In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.
    • The deposit is caved by knocking out the posts.
  • (mining, obsolete) To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.
  • * {{quote-book, 1999, Andy Wood, The Politics of Social Conflict: The Peak Country, 1520-1770, page=319 citation
    • , passage=As an indication of the miners' desperation in these years, the free miners of Wensley lowered themselves to caving for scraps of ore. }}
  • (obsolete) To dwell in a cave.
    • (Shakespeare)
    Derived terms
    * block caving * cave in * caver * caving hammer

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (British, public school slang) look out!; beware!

    • Anagrams

    * ----

    pit

    English

    (wikipedia pit)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A hole in the ground.
  • (motor racing) An area at a motor racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a race.
  • (music) A section of the marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to march, such as the tam tam. Also, the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.
  • A mine.
  • (archaeology) A hole or trench in the ground, excavated according to grid coordinates, so that the provenance of any feature observed and any specimen or artifact revealed may be established by precise measurement.
  • (trading) A trading pit.
  • Something particularly unpleasant.
  • The bottom part of.
  • (colloquial) Armpit, oxter.
  • (aviation) A luggage hold.
  • (countable) A small surface hole or depression, a fossa.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits' around two microns across. Such '''pits''' are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these ' pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].}}
  • The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.
  • The grave, or underworld.
  • * Milton
    • Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained.
  • * Bible, Job xxxiii. 18
    • He keepeth back his soul from the pit .
  • An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.
  • * John Locke
    • as fiercely as two gamecocks in the pit
  • Formerly, that part of a theatre, on the floor of the house, below the level of the stage and behind the orchestra; now, in England, commonly the part behind the stalls; in the United States, the parquet; also, the occupants of such a part of a theatre.
  • Part of a casino which typically holds tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and other games.
    • Derived terms
    * armpit * money pit * pit-eye * pit stop

    Verb

    (pitt)
  • To make pits in.
    • Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal.
  • To put (a dog) into a pit for fighting.
  • To bring (something) into opposition with something else.
    • Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?
  • * 22 March 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/]
    • For the 75 years since a district rebellion was put down, The Games have existed as an assertion of the Capital’s power, a winner-take-all contest that touts heroism and sacrifice—participants are called “tributes”— while pitting the districts against each other.
  • (motor racing) To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . Compare (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A seed inside a fruit; a stone or pip inside a fruit.
  • A shell in a drupe containing a seed.

    • Verb

    (pitt)
  • To remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.
    • One must pit a peach to make it ready for a pie.

    Anagrams

    * * ----