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Rift vs Pit - What's the difference?

rift | pit | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between rift and pit

is that rift is to cleave; to rive; to split while pit is to remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.

As nouns the difference between rift and pit

is that rift is a chasm or fissure while pit is a hole in the ground.

As verbs the difference between rift and pit

is that rift is to form a rift while pit is to make pits in.

rift

English

(wikipedia rift)

Etymology 1

Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish/Norwegian '' 'breach', Old Norse ''rífa 'to tear'. More at rive.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A chasm or fissure.
    • My marriage is in trouble, the fight created a rift between us and we can't reconnect.
    The Grand Canyon is a rift in the Earth's surface, but is smaller than some of the undersea ones.
  • A break in the clouds, fog, mist etc., which allows light through.
  • * 1931 , William Faulkner, Sanctuary , Vintage 1993, page 130:
    • I have but one rift in the darkness, that is that I have injured no one save myself by my folly, and that the extent of that folly you will never learn.
  • A shallow place in a stream; a ford.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To form a .
  • To cleave; to rive; to split.
    • to rift an oak
  • * Wordsworth
    • To dwell these rifted rocks between.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) rypta.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To belch.

    • Etymology 3

    Verb

    (head)
    • (Spenser)

    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

    * * ----