How to pronounce pit
Say it like PIT. Pit is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce pit. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- PIT
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Pit pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- PITSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
American vs British pronunciation of pit
American and British speakers say pit in essentially the same way: /pɪt/ in the US and /pɪt/ in the UK.
British respelling: PIT.
What does pit mean?
- a sizeable hole (usually in the ground)“they dug a pit to bury the body”
- 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“you should remove the stones from prunes before cooking”
- set into opposition or rivalry“let them match their best athletes against ours”“pit a chess player against the Russian champion”
- mark with a scar“The skin disease scarred his face permanently”
- remove the pits from“pit plums and cherries”
Where does pit come from?
From Middle English pit, pet, püt, from Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, from Latin puteus (“trench, pit, well”), although there are phonetic difficulties.
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with pit
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of pit.
Questions about saying pit
How do you pronounce pit?
Say PIT. The American pronunciation is /pɪt/. In British English it is /pɪt/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in pit?
Pit is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: PIT.
Do Americans and Brits say pit the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /pɪt/ and the British form is /pɪt/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.