Meaning & use
barbecue pit
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A place or structure where meat is cooked slowly over a fire or hot coals, often outdoors.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a barbecue pit or two barbecue pits.
Patterns
- cook something in a barbecue pit
- build a barbecue pit
- a barbecue pit restaurant
They dug a barbecue pit in the backyard and roasted a whole pig.
The restaurant's barbecue pit burns oak wood all night.
He cleaned the barbecue pit before the family arrived.
nouncountableAmericaninformal
A restaurant or eating place that specializes in slow-cooked smoked meat.
Grammar: Often used with a name or place word: a barbecue pit on Main Street.
Patterns
- eat at a barbecue pit
- a local barbecue pit
We stopped at a roadside barbecue pit for pulled pork sandwiches.
Every small town in the region seems to have its own barbecue pit.
Word forms
| plural | barbecue pits |
|---|
Common combinations
- dig a barbecue pit
- The neighbors dug a barbecue pit for the community picnic.
- barbecue pit master
- He trained for years to become a barbecue pit master.
- smoke meat in a barbecue pit
- They smoke brisket in a barbecue pit for twelve hours.
- barbecue pit restaurant
- A new barbecue pit restaurant opened near the station.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grill
- A grill is the metal cooking surface or the small device itself; a barbecue pit is larger and often built into the ground or a wall.
- smoker
- A smoker is a closed device designed only for slow smoking; a barbecue pit can also be an open fire or a whole eating place.
- barbecue
- Barbecue can mean the event, the food, or the equipment, so it is broader; the pit is specifically the cooking structure or the restaurant.
Word family
- barbecue noun
- An outdoor meal or the meat cooked this way.
- barbecue verb
- To cook food slowly over a fire or on a grill.
- barbecued adjective
- Cooked in this slow, smoky way, as in barbecued ribs.
Commonly confused: barbecue pit or barbecue?
barbecue pit vs barbecue
Barbecue is the general word for the meal, food, or equipment; a barbecue pit is the specific cooking place or the restaurant that uses one.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'barbecue pit' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
A barbecue pit is a structure or place for cooking, so you build or use one. Option 0 confuses it with a plate or dish, option 2 treats it as clothing, and option 3 treats it as food.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “barbecue pit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.