piste /piː st/ (pistes ) N‑COUNT A piste is a track of firm snow for skiing on.
pis|tol /p I st ə l/ (pistols ) N‑COUNT A pistol is a small gun.
pis|ton /p I st ə n/ (pistons ) N‑COUNT A piston is a cylinder or metal disc that is part of an engine. Pistons slide up and down inside tubes and cause various parts of the engine to move.
pit ◆◇◇ /p I t/ (pits , pitting , pitted )
1 N‑COUNT A pit is a coal mine. □ It was a better community then when all the pits were working.
2 N‑COUNT A pit is a large hole that is dug in the ground. □ Eric lost his footing and began to slide into the pit.
3 N‑COUNT A gravel pit or clay pit is a very large hole that is left where gravel or clay has been dug from the ground. □ This area of former farmland was worked as a gravel pit until 1964.
4 VERB [usu passive] If two opposing things or people are pitted against one another, they are in conflict. □ [be V -ed + against ] You will be pitted against people who are every bit as good as you are. □ [V -ed] This was one man pitted against the universe.
5 N‑PLURAL [usu pl] In motor racing, the pits are the areas at the side of the track where drivers stop to get more fuel and to repair their cars during races.
6 → see also pit stop
7 N‑PLURAL If you describe something as the pits , you mean that it is extremely bad. [SPOKEN ] □ Mary Ann asked him how dinner had been. 'The pits,' he replied.
8 N‑COUNT A pit is the stone of a fruit or vegetable. [AM ]
9 → see also pitted , fleapit , orchestra pit , sandpit
10 PHRASE If you pit your wits against someone, you compete with them in a test of knowledge or intelligence. □ I'd like to pit my wits against the best.
11 PHRASE If you have a feeling in the pit of your stomach , you have a tight or sick feeling in your stomach, usually because you are afraid or anxious. □ I had a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.
12 a bottomless pit → see bottomless
pita /piː tə/ (pitas ) → see pitta
pi t bull ter|ri|er (pit bull terriers ) N‑COUNT A pit bull terrier or a pit bull is a very fierce kind of dog. Some people train pit bull terriers to fight other dogs. It is illegal to own one in the UK.
pitch ◆◇◇ /p I tʃ/ (pitches , pitching , pitched )
1 N‑COUNT [oft n N ] A pitch is an area of ground that is marked out and used for playing a game such as football, cricket, or hockey. [mainly BRIT ] □ There was a swimming-pool, cricket pitches, and playing fields. □ Their conduct both on and off the pitch was excellent. in AM, usually use field 2 VERB If you pitch something somewhere, you throw it with quite a lot of force, usually aiming it carefully. □ [V n prep] Simon pitched the empty bottle into the lake.
3 VERB To pitch somewhere means to fall forwards suddenly and with a lot of force. □ [V adv] The movement took him by surprise, and he pitched forward. □ [be V -ed prep/adv] I was pitched into the water and swam ashore.
4 VERB If someone is pitched into a new situation, they are suddenly forced into it. □ [be V -ed prep] They were being pitched into a new adventure. □ [V n prep] This could pitch the government into confrontation with the work-force.
5 VERB In the game of baseball or rounders, when you pitch the ball, you throw it to the batter for them to hit it. □ [V n] We passed long, hot afternoons pitching a baseball. [Also V prep] ● pitch|ing N‑UNCOUNT □ His pitching was a legend among major league hitters.
6 N‑UNCOUNT The pitch of a sound is how high or low it is. □ He raised his voice to an even higher pitch.
7 → see also perfect pitch
8 VERB [usu passive] If a sound is pitched at a particular level, it is produced at the level indicated. □ [be V -ed prep/adv] His cry is pitched at a level that makes it impossible to ignore. □ [V -ed] Her voice was well pitched and brisk.
9 → see also high-pitched , low-pitched
10 VERB If something is pitched at a particular level or degree of difficulty, it is set at that level. □ [be V -ed prep] I think the material is pitched at too high a level for our purposes. □ [V n prep] The government has pitched High Street interest rates at a new level.
11 N‑SING If something such as a feeling or a situation rises to a high pitch , it rises to a high level. □ The hysteria reached such a pitch that police were deployed to reassure parents at the school gates.
12 → see also fever pitch
13 VERB If you pitch your tent , or pitch camp , you put up your tent in a place where you are going to stay. □ [V n] He had pitched his tent in the yard. □ [V n] At dusk we pitched camp in the middle of nowhere.
14 VERB If a boat pitches , it moves violently up and down with the movement of the waves when the sea is rough. □ [V ] The ship is pitching and rolling in what looks like about fifteen-foot seas.
15 → see also pitched
16 PHRASE If someone makes a pitch for something, they try to persuade people to do or buy it. □ [+ for ] The President made another pitch for his economic program.