Pit vs. Trench: What's the Difference?

A natural or artificial hole or cavity in the ground.

A deep furrow or ditch.

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

A long narrow ditch embanked with its own soil and used for concealment and protection in warfare.

The shaft of a mine.

A long, steep-sided valley on the ocean floor.

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

To dig or make a trench or trenches in (land or an area, for example).

A small indentation in a surface

To place in a trench

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

To dig a trench or trenches.

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

To encroach. Often used with on or upon

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

To verge or border. Often used with on or upon

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

A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground.

(Informal) An armpit.

(military) A narrow excavation as used in warfare, as a cover for besieging or emplaced forces.

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

(archaeology) A pit, usually rectangular with smooth walls and floor, excavated during an archaeological investigation.

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

(informal) A trench coat.

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

To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another; to encroach.

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

To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.

The gambling area of a casino.

(archaeology) To excavate an elongated and often narrow pit.

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

To have direction; to aim or tend.

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

To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, etc.

Hell. Used with the.

To cut furrows or ditches in.

A miserable or depressing place or situation.

To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next.

Pits(Slang) The worst. Used with the

To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, or the like.

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

To fortify by cutting a ditch, and raising a rampart or breastwork with the earth thrown out of the ditch; to intrench.

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

To cut furrows or ditches in; as, to trench land for the purpose of draining it.

To mark with cavities, depressions, or scars

To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next; as, to trench a garden for certain crops.

To set in direct opposition or competition

To encroach; to intrench.

To place, bury, or store in a pit.

To have direction; to aim or tend.

To become marked with pits.

A long, narrow cut in the earth; a ditch; as, a trench for draining land.

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

An alley; a narrow path or walk cut through woods, shrubbery, or the like.

To stop at a refueling area during an auto race.

An excavation made during a siege, for the purpose of covering the troops as they advance toward the besieged place. The term includes the parallels and the approaches.

To extract the pit from (a fruit).

A ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth

A hole in the ground.

A long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor

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

Any long ditch cut in the ground

(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.

Impinge or infringe upon;

A mine.

Fortify by surrounding with trenches;

(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.

Cut or carve deeply into;

(trading) A trading pit.

Set, plant, or bury in a trench;

The bottom part of something.

Cut a trench in, as for drainage;

(colloquial) Armpit.

Dig a trench or trenches;

(aviation) A luggage hold.

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

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

The grave, underworld or Hell.

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

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.

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

(slang) A mosh pit.

(American football) The center of the line.

(hospital slang) The emergency department.

A bed.

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

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

A shell in a drupe containing a seed.

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

(informal) A pit bull terrier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Any abyss; especially, the grave, or hades.

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

A depression or hollow in the surface of the human body

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.

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

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

To place or put into a pit or hole.

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

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

A sizeable hole (usually in the ground);

A concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression)

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

A trap in the form of a concealed hole

A surface excavation for extracting stone or slate;

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

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

Set into opposition or rivalry;

Mark with a scar;

Remove the pits from;