Meaning & use
pit of stomach feeling
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
An uncomfortable tight or sinking sensation low in your belly, caused by fear, worry, or excitement.
Grammar: Usually used with 'a' or 'the': a pit of stomach feeling, the pit of stomach feeling.
Patterns
- a pit of stomach feeling
- have a pit of stomach feeling
- get a pit of stomach feeling
I had a pit of stomach feeling as I opened the exam results.
She gets a pit of stomach feeling every time the phone rings late at night.
He described a pit of stomach feeling before his first stage performance.
Common combinations
- a sinking pit of stomach feeling
- The news gave me a sinking pit of stomach feeling.
- have a pit of stomach feeling
- I have a pit of stomach feeling about this decision.
- get a pit of stomach feeling
- You get a pit of stomach feeling when you wait for bad news.
- a pit of stomach feeling about something
- She had a pit of stomach feeling about the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- butterflies in your stomach
- This usually suggests nervous excitement, often pleasant, while a pit of stomach feeling is more often uneasy or fearful.
- a sinking feeling
- This is the more common everyday expression and can refer to the same sensation without naming the stomach.
Word family
- pit of the stomach phrase
- The area low in the belly where this feeling is felt.
Commonly confused: pit of stomach feeling or stomachache?
pit of stomach feeling vs stomachache
A stomachache is physical pain in the stomach; a pit of stomach feeling is an emotional sensation, not an illness.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase describes an emotional sinking sensation, so bad news fits. Eating too much or hunger would be a physical stomach problem, and the feeling is not located in the knee.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pit of stomach feeling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.