pit bull
Americannoun
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a stocky, muscular dog with a broad skull and a smooth coat, belonging to an informal category of purebred and mixed-breed dogs that includes the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, and sometimes the American bulldog or boxer.
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Also called American pit bull terrier. American Staffordshire terrier.
Etymology
Origin of pit bull
First recorded in 1925–30; pit 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “enclosure for staging animal fights”) + bull(dog) ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The policy was formally enacted last November in response to a $3.25-million settlement reached by the city with Kristin Wright, who was severely injured by a pit bull she adopted from the South L.A. shelter.
From Los Angeles Times
When I lived in downtown Phoenix, my pit bull Ziggy once escaped through the fence and disappeared, causing my wife to burst into tears.
From Salon
In the video, a gray pit bull named Valerio stood on a woman’s lap, furiously wagging his tail as he accepted her caresses.
From Los Angeles Times
The woman’s son adopted the pit bull, named O’Gee, in 2020 from a city shelter, not knowing he had bitten a jogger in both arms, according to the woman’s lawsuit.
From Los Angeles Times
The lawyer tasked with defending ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earned a nickname early in his career: Pit Bull.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
