Phrase guide

pit bull terrier

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A medium-sized dog historically bred for dogfighting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

American breed of muscular terriers with a short close-lying stiff coat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire terrier, American pit bull terrier

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bullterrier, bull terrier

History

Etymology

From pit (“fighting arena”) + bull terrier.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Cantonese: 比特犬 (bei2 dak6 hyun2) — breed of dog
  • Chinese Mandarin: 比特犬 (bǐtèquǎn) — breed of dog
  • Dutch: pitbullterriër — breed of dog
  • Dutch: pitbull — breed of dog
  • Finnish: pitbull — breed of dog
  • Finnish: pitbulli — breed of dog
  • French: pitbull — breed of dog
  • Hungarian: pitbull — breed of dog
  • Hungarian: pitbull terrier — breed of dog
  • Hungarian: amerikai pitbull terrier — breed of dog
  • Irish: tarbh-bhrocaire — breed of dog
  • Japanese: ピットブル (pittoburu) — breed of dog
  • Lithuanian: pitbulis — breed of dog
  • Lithuanian: pitbulterjeras — breed of dog
  • Malay: anjing pitbull — breed of dog
  • Polish: pitbullterier — breed of dog
  • Polish: pitbulterier — breed of dog
  • Polish: pitbul — breed of dog
  • Polish: pitbull — breed of dog
  • Portuguese: pit bull — breed of dog
  • Portuguese: pitbull — breed of dog