pitting

noun

pit·​ting ˈpi-tiŋ How to pronounce pitting (audio)
1
: an arrangement of pits
2
: the action or process of forming pits
3
: the bringing of gamecocks together to fight

Examples of pitting in a Sentence

The car's paint showed some pitting from flying gravel. Her face had some minor pitting from the chicken pox.
Recent Examples on the Web Another sign of alopecia is nail pitting, which refers to small indentations on the fingernails. Ayana Underwood, SELF, 30 Jan. 2024 Related Story Newport Newport folk do not need to struggle with a tug-of-war pitting modern against tradition. Holly Peterson, Town & Country, 31 Aug. 2023 This is not about this pitting between two women and division between two women. Anna Chan, Billboard, 30 June 2023 The paint quality is outstanding, with good leveling and the ability to hide surface pitting and small imperfections. Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 26 June 2023 Some pitting or skin discoloration may stick around.3 Once the scab finally falls off, the person is no longer considered contagious.5 Can Mpox Spread via Contaminated Surfaces? Where Do Mpox (Monkeypox) Lesions Appear? Julia Landwehr, Health, 21 June 2023 The pitting is typically filled in with clear epoxy, then it gets sanded down to a smooth surface. Alyssa Longobucco, House Beautiful, 2 May 2023 But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off. Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023 There’s no word on the family-values politics that would turn the 2000s into a culture war pitting offended, letter-writing conservatives against edgy anti-PC bros. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 29 July 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pitting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of pitting was in 1593

Dictionary Entries Near pitting

Cite this Entry

“Pitting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pitting. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pitting

present participle of pit

Medical Definition

pitting

noun
1
: the action or process of forming pits (as in acned skin, a tooth, or a dental restoration)
2
: the formation of a depression or indentation in living tissue that is produced by pressure with a finger or blunt instrument and disappears only slowly following release of the pressure in some forms of edema

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