PIT

Pit

The pit is the core of an implosion weapon – the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it. Some weapons tested during the 1950s used pits made with U-235 alone, or in composite with plutonium, but all-plutonium pits are the smallest in diameter and have been the standard since the early 1960s.

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Pit (nuclear weapon)
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

pit

Noun

  1. A hole in the ground.
  2. An area at a motor racetrack used for refueling and repairing the vehicles during a race.
  3. 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.
  4. A mine.
  5. 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.
  6. A trading pit.
  7. Something particularly unpleasant.
  8. The bottom part of.
  9. Armpit, oxter.
  10. A luggage hold.
  11. A small surface hole or depression, a fossa.
  12. The indented mark left by a pustule, as in smallpox.
  13. The grave, or underworld.
  14. An enclosed area into which gamecocks, dogs, and other animals are brought to fight, or where dogs are trained to kill rats.
  15. 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.

Noun (etymology 2)

  1. A seed inside a fruit; a stone or pip inside a fruit.
  2. A shell in a drupe containing a seed.

Verb

  1. To make pits in.
    Exposure to acid rain pitted the metal.
  2. To put (a dog) into a pit for fighting.
  3. To bring (something) into opposition with something else.
    Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?
  4. To return to the pits during a race for refuelling, tyre changes, repairs etc.

Verb (etymology 2)

  1. To remove the stone from a stone fruit or the shell from a drupe.
    One must pit a peach to make it ready for a pie.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: pit
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Need help with a clue?
Try your search in the crossword dictionary!