pit of the stomach

Meaning

1. 1nounsingularinformal

   The deep lower middle part of the belly, where people say they feel sudden fear, worry or dread.

   Grammar: Used with the: a feeling in the pit of the stomach.

   Patterns

   • in the pit of your stomach
   • a feeling in the pit of the stomach

   She felt a knot in the pit of her stomach before the exam.

   A cold fear settled in the pit of his stomach.

   The bad news hit me in the pit of my stomach.

Common combinations

feel it in the pit of your stomach

I felt it in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong.

a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach

He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

dread in the pit of your stomach

Dread grew in the pit of her stomach.

a knot in the pit of the stomach

A knot formed in the pit of his stomach.

hit in the pit of the stomach

The news hit him in the pit of the stomach.

Synonyms and how they differ

gut

Gut is more informal and is also used for instinct, as in a gut feeling.

stomach

Stomach alone is the organ or general belly area, while pit adds the idea of a deep hollow feeling.

belly

Belly is a friendlier word for the stomach area and has less of a feeling of fear.

Word family

pit noun

a deep hole

stomach noun

the organ where food is digested

stomach-turning adjective

extremely disgusting or frightening

Commonly confused: pit of the stomach or butterflies in the stomach?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “pit of the stomach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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