pit stop

noun

1

: a stop at the pits during an automobile race

2

a(1)

: a stop (as during a trip) for fuel, food, or rest or for use of a restroom

(2)

: a temporary deviation from a direct or usual course

a career pit stop … where he worked temporarily in between TV jobs

—Mark Lorando

b(1)

: a place where a pit stop is or can be made

(2)

: an establishment providing food or drink

Examples of pit stop in a Sentence

We made a pit stop for some food before getting back on the highway.

This little town is an ideal pit stop between the two cities.

Recent Examples on the Web

Unfortunately, things deteriorated further during a pit stop when a problem with securing a wheel arose. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025

Since finishing the project, preliminary findings have shown that salmon have taken to the area — an early pit stop to the Pacific Ocean — for feeding and growing, as planned, and have also spawned there. —Jake Goodrick, Sacramento Bee, 25 Feb. 2025

The gun was so heavy that the plane couldn’t carry enough fuel for the whole trip and had to make a pit stop at an Air Force base in Illinois. —Nick Woltman, Twin Cities, 23 Feb. 2025

The commission agreed to increase the numbers of mandatory pit stops in the Race. —Kanzah Maktoum, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pit stop

• atop
• backdrop
• backstop
• bebop
• blacktop
• bookshop
• clatsop
• desktop
• eavesdrop
• estop
• hardtop
• hilltop

Kids Definition

pit stop

noun

1

: a stop at the pits during an automobile race

2

a

: a stop (as during a trip) for fuel, food, or rest or for use of a restroom

b

: a place where a pit stop is or can be made