Pit vs. Well — What's the Difference?

A large hole in the ground.

A deep hole or shaft sunk into the earth to obtain water, oil, gas, or brine.

A hollow or indentation in a surface.

A container or reservoir for a liquid, such as ink.

An area at the side of a track where racing cars are serviced and refuelled

A place where water issues from the earth; a spring or fountain.

An orchestra pit.

A mineral spring.

A part of the floor of a stock exchange in which a particular stock or commodity is traded

Wells A watering place; a spa.

An enclosure in which animals are made to fight

An abundant source

A person's bed.

An open space extending vertically through the floors of a building, as for stairs or ventilation.

A person's armpit.

An enclosure in a ship's hold for the pumps.

The stone of a fruit.

A compartment or recessed area in a ship, used for stowage

Set someone or something in conflict or competition with

A part of a ship's weather deck enclosed between two watertight bulkheads.

Make a hollow or indentation in the surface of

A cistern with a perforated bottom in the hold of a fishing vessel for keeping fish alive.

Drive a racing car into the pits for fuel or maintenance

An enclosed space for receiving and holding something, such as the wheels of an airplane when retracted.

Remove the pit from (fruit).

Chiefly British The central space in a law court, directly in front of the judge's bench, where the counsel or solicitor sits.

A natural or artificial hole or cavity in the ground.

To rise to the surface, ready to flow

An excavation for the removal of mineral deposits; a mine.

To rise or surge from an inner source

The shaft of a mine.

To pour forth.

A concealed hole in the ground used as a trap; a pitfall.

In a good or proper manner

A small indentation in a surface

Skillfully or proficiently

A natural hollow or depression in the body or an organ.

Satisfactorily or sufficiently

A small indented scar left in the skin by smallpox or other eruptive disease; a pockmark.

Successfully or effectively

(Zoology) Either of a pair of depressions between the nostril and the eye of a pit viper that contain heat-sensing organs.

In a comfortable or affluent manner

(Botany) A cavity in the wall of a plant cell where there is no secondary wall, as in fibers, tracheids, and vessel elements.

In a manner affording benefit or gain; advantageously

(Informal) An armpit.

With reason or propriety; reasonably

An enclosed, usually sunken area in which animals, such as dogs or gamecocks, are placed for fighting.

In all likelihood; indeed

The section directly in front of and below the stage of a theater, in which the musicians sit.

In a prudent or sensible manner

Chiefly British The ground floor of a theater behind the stalls.

In a close or familiar manner

The section of an exchange where trading in a specific commodity is carried on.

In a favorable or approving manner

The gambling area of a casino.

Thoroughly; completely

A sunken area in a garage floor from which mechanics may work on cars.

Perfectly; clearly

Often pits(Sports) An area beside an auto racecourse where cars may be refueled or serviced during a race

To a suitable or appropriate degree

Hell. Used with the.

To a considerable extent or degree

A miserable or depressing place or situation.

With care or attention

Pits(Slang) The worst. Used with the

Entirely; fully

(Football) The middle areas of the defensive and offensive lines.

In a satisfactory condition; right or proper

The single central kernel or stone of certain fruits, such as a peach or cherry.

Not ailing, infirm, or diseased; healthy.

To mark with cavities, depressions, or scars

Cured or healed, as a wound.

To set in direct opposition or competition

Of or characterized by the maintenance of good health practices. Often used in combination

To place, bury, or store in a pit.

Advisable; prudent

To become marked with pits.

Fortunate; good

To retain an impression after being indented. Used of the skin.

Used to introduce a remark, resume a narrative, or fill a pause during conversation.

To stop at a refueling area during an auto race.

Used to express surprise.

To extract the pit from (a fruit).

(manner) Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.

A hole in the ground.

(manner) Completely, fully.

(motor racing) An area at a racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a race.

(degree) To a significant degree.

(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.

Very (as a general-purpose intensifier).

A mine.

In a desirable manner; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favourably; advantageously.

(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.

In good health.

(trading) A trading pit.

(hypercorrect) Good, content.

The bottom part of something.

(uncommon) Prudent; good; well-advised.

(colloquial) Armpit.

Good to eat; tasty, delicious.

(aviation) A luggage hold.

(Hiberno-English) Used as a greeting

(countable) A small surface hole or depression, a fossa.

A hole sunk into the ground as a source of water, oil, natural gas or other fluids.

The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.

A place where a liquid such as water surfaces naturally; a spring.

The grave, underworld or Hell.

A small depression suitable for holding liquid or other objects.

An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.

(figurative) A source of supply.

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.

(nautical) A vertical, cylindrical trunk in a ship, reaching down to the lowest part of the hull, through which the bilge pumps operate.

(gambling) Part of a casino which typically holds tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and other games.

(nautical) The cockpit of a sailboat.

(slang) A mosh pit.

(nautical) A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water to keep fish alive while they are transported to market.

(American football) The center of the line.

(nautical) A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of the water.

(hospital slang) The emergency department.

(military) A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.

A bed.

(architecture) An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.

(informal) An undesirable location, especially an unclean one.

The open space between the bench and the counsel tables in a courtroom.

A seed inside a fruit; a stone or pip inside a fruit.

(metalworking) The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls.

A shell in a drupe containing a seed.

A well drink.

(military) The core of an implosion nuclear weapon, consisting of the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it.

(video games) The playfield of Tetris and similar video games, into which the blocks fall.

(informal) A pit bull terrier.

(biology) In a microtiter plate, each of the small equal circular or square sections which serve as test tubes.

(transitive) To make pits in; to mark with little hollows.

(intransitive) To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring.

(transitive) To put (an animal) into a pit for fighting.

(intransitive) To have something seep out of the surface.

(transitive) To bring (something) into opposition with something else.

An issue of water from the earth; a spring; a fountain.

To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.

A pit or hole sunk into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, generally of a cylindrical form, and often walled with stone or bricks to prevent the earth from caving in.

(transitive) To remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.

A shaft made in the earth to obtain oil or brine.

A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation

Fig.: A source of supply; fountain; wellspring.

Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades.

An inclosure in the middle of a vessel's hold, around the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck, to preserve the pumps from damage and facilitate their inspection.

A covered deep hole for entrapping wild beasts; a pitfall; hence, a trap; a snare. Also used figuratively.

A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.

A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body

An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.

Formerly, that part of a theater, 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 theater.

The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls.

An inclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.

To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring.

The endocarp of a drupe, and its contained seed or seeds; a stone; as, a peach pit; a cherry pit, etc.

To pour forth, as from a well.

To place or put into a pit or hole.

In a good or proper manner; justly; rightly; not ill or wickedly.

To mark with little hollows, as by various pustules; as, a face pitted by smallpox.

Suitably to one's condition, to the occasion, or to a proposed end or use; suitably; abundantly; fully; adequately; thoroughly.

To introduce as an antagonist; to set forward for or in a contest; as, to pit one dog against another.

Fully or about; - used with numbers.

A sizeable hole (usually in the ground);

In such manner as is desirable; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favorably; advantageously; conveniently.

A concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression)

Considerably; not a little; far.

The hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that contains the seed;

Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense; fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as, it is well for the country that the crops did not fail; it is well that the mistake was discovered.

A trap in the form of a concealed hole

Being in health; sound in body; not ailing, diseased, or sick; healthy; as, a well man; the patient is perfectly well.

A surface excavation for extracting stone or slate;

Being in favor; favored; fortunate.

Lowered area in front of a stage where an orchestra accompanies the performers

Safe; as, a chip warranted well at a certain day and place.

A workplace consisting of a coal mine plus all the buildings and equipment connected with it

A deep hole or shaft dug or drilled to obtain water or oil or gas or brine

Set into opposition or rivalry;

A cavity or vessel used to contain liquid

Mark with a scar;

An abundant source;

Remove the pits from;

An open shaft through the floors of a building (as for a stairway)

An enclosed compartment in a ship or plane for holding something as e.g. fish or a plane's landing gear or for protecting something as e.g. a ship's pumps

Come up;

In good health especially after having suffered illness or injury;

Resulting favorably;

Wise or advantageous and hence advisable;

(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (`good' is a nonstandard dialectal variant for `well');

Thoroughly or completely; fully; often used as a combining form;

Indicating high probability; in all likelihood;

(used for emphasis or as an intensifier) entirely or fully;

To a suitable or appropriate extent or degree;

Favorably; with approval;

To a great extent or degree;

With great or especially intimate knowledge;

With prudence or propriety;

With skill or in a pleasing manner;

In a manner affording benefit or advantage;

In financial comfort;

Without unusual distress or resentment; with good humor;