Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An unapparent source of trouble or danger; a hidden hazard: "potential pitfalls stemming from their optimistic inflation assumptions” ( New York Times).
- n. A concealed hole in the ground that serves as a trap.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pit into which an animal may fall unawares, the opening being so covered as to escape observation. Pitfalls are much used for the capture of large animals in Africa and India and elsewhere, and are sometimes fitted with stout sharp-pointed upright stakes intended to transfix the animal which falls upon them.
- n. Hence Figuratively, any concealed danger or source of disaster.
- To lead into a pitfall; insnare.
Wiktionary
- n. a potential problem, hazard, or danger that is easily encountered but not immediately obvious.
- n. computing An anti-pattern.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A pit deceitfully covered to entrap wild beasts or men; a trap of any kind.
WordNet 3.0
Etymologies
- pit + fall (Wiktionary)
Examples
“That's probably the main pitfall of the car insurance analogy.”
Reality and Health Care Spending, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“And the piece about avoiding the not doing something pitfall is the kind of thing that I can stand to hear many times, so thanks for that.”
“The only possible pitfall is complacency -- but the prospect of competing for a national title for the first time should cure that.”
“One does have to be obsessive with the little pieces and the instructions - my biggest pitfall is that I have a pretty good sense of how things fit together and I get cocky.”
“The pitfall is that if some story aspect is already working, stretching can create distortion: characters that pass edgy and go straight to unnatural or unsympathetic, conflicts that no longer fit the tone or intent of the story, etc …”
“Of course, a pitfall is the caveat that the instructor needs to be a competent one.”
“Another pitfall is the urge to state the obvious: No one, Gladwell concludes in a chapter comparing a high-IQ failure named Chris Langan with the brilliantly successful J. Robert Oppenheimer, not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires and not even geniuses-ever makes it alone.”
“Bush's ads mirror his general-market spots, a potential "pitfall," says Machado.”
“The same kind of pitfall will always lie ahead of you, Chris; that, too, is an aspect of the job.”
“Animism is, as already explained, a pitfall which is always yawning before us and into which we are sure to plunge unless we are ever watchful.”
The Mind in the Making The Relation of Intelligence to Social Reform
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pitfall’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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bad memory
copper, anvil, oblique, thrust, shrine, welfare, farewell, bitter, faction, sectarian, tangible, spectacle and 134 more...
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Fall
fall, fall in with, fall in love, The Fall, Fallen Angel, fallen angel, nuclear fallout, Things Fall Apart, waterfall, Falling Water, fall apart, falling and 55 more...
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Hence, figuratively
Words with definitions containing both "hence" and "figuratively."
sternforemost, pearl, fulminate, salient, pocket, niche, rough-grained, harness, befog, zenith, pivot, blackwash and 37 more...
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The Pits
armpit, pit, pits, cockpit, pity, pithy, pit bull terrier, pit boss, pit stop, pitcher, fire pit, peach pit and 76 more...
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Various Traps
fixed-gear weirs, purse seiners, mid-water trawlers, lobster pot, mousetrap, 419 scam, buffalo jump, venus flytrap, sticky paper, deadfall, pitfall, catch 22 and 39 more...
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Things that fall
words that end in fall
befall, deadfall, dew-fall, dewfall, downfall, evenfall, foot-fall, footfall, free-fall, freefall, icefall, infall and 18 more...
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writing first chapter
revolve, vital, necessity, depict, archery, indegenous, native, lacrosse, similarly, recess, composition, indicator and 91 more...
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Wordplayer's Wonderful Words
chaparral, grotesque, knork, newsmonger, thitherwards, fackeltanz, kakistocracy, sforzando, compendium, frump, inquere, phosphene and 100 more...
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dyy's Words
ambivalence, irony, double-edged sword, paradox, struggle, plunge, buoy, pigeon-hole, ultimately, status quo, fuel, undermine and 230 more...
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ari
words
craven, perennial, incumbent, infraction, truancy, foreboding, missgiving, understudy, upkeep, withdrawal, retreat, underscore and 95 more...
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INTERP - VOCABULARY
The vocabulary of conference interpreting. I commend this list to those who want to know more about the profession and to those who wish to organize their knowledge about the profession. To aspirin...
retour language, A-language, B-language, C-language, relay language, take sy on relay, language booth, booth meeting, mic, mike, mission, freelance interpr... and 2086 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, P
pellucid, pertain, pampas, prate, pinecone, philistine, pantocrator, papaverine, postmeridian, potlatch, pharology, pinniped and 622 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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noele's list
vertiginous, verdant, mellifluous, serpentine, verdigris, traject, amaranthine, luminous, phosphorescent, temerous, cerulean, shapeshifter and 531 more...
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Words from gof book
Nove reci za vezbanje
pertinent, overwhelm, consequently, recurring, recur, decouple, depict, plot, furnish\, convey, succinct, pitfall and 7 more...
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