What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Pit vs Crater - What's the difference?

pit | crater |

As nouns the difference between pit and crater

is that pit is a hole in the ground while crater is a hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.

As verbs the difference between pit and crater

is that pit is to make pits in while crater is to collapse catastrophically; implode; hollow out; to become devastated or completely destroyed.

As a proper noun Crater is

: A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a cup. It lies between the constellations Virgo and Hydra.

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

    * * ----

    crater

    English

    Etymology 1

    First coined 1613, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (astronomy) A hemispherical pit created by the impact of a meteorite or other object.
  • (geology) The basin-like opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a geyser, about which a cone of silica is often built up.
  • (informal) The pit left by the explosion of a mine or bomb.
  • (informal) Any large, roughly circular depression or hole.
    • Synonyms
    * (astronomy) astrobleme * (geology) caldera

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To collapse catastrophically; implode; hollow out; to become devastated or completely destroyed.
    • The economy is about to crater . -- Attributed by David Letterman to Sen. John McCain. NYTimes blog
  • (snowboarding) To crash or fall.
    • He cratered into that snow bank about five seconds after his first lesson.

    Etymology 2

    Possibly a diminutive of cratur (dialect form of creature ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Ireland, informal, UK, dialect) A term of endearment, a dote, a wretched thing.
    • 1843' - I then had the two best tarriers beneath the canopy; this poor '''crater is their daughter," and he patted the dog's head affectionately.
    William Hamilton Maxwell, '' Wild Sports of the West: With Legendary Tales, and Local Sketches     , Publisher R. Bentley, page 77,
    1859' - She is a charming ' crater ; I would venture to say that, if I was not her father.
    The British Drama: A Collection of the Most Esteemed Tragedies, Comedies ...
    1872 (Thomas Hardy) "Under the Greenwood Tree"
    "Then why not stop for fellow-craters -- going to thy own father's house too, as we be, and knowen us so well?"
    Usage notes
    This term is still commonly used in speech but rarely appears in modern writing. (craterin)

    Anagrams

    * * ----