Meanings
plural pit stops · alternative pitstop · alternative pit-stop
- hobbiesA stop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel and perform other periodic maintenance on the vehicle.
Alonso and Ferrari may well privately regret the decision to delay their second pit stop until two laps after Maldonado made his on the 24th of 66 laps.
2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport - informalA brief stop for fuel, rest or refreshment during an automobile journey.
I had to make a couple of pit stops along the way from Cadiz to Santiago de Compostela to give myself a break.
- informalA stop during any pedestrian or automobile travel for any utilitarian personal purpose, especially use of a bathroom.
- informalA place that offers food, beverages, and other goods and services for those stopping on an automobile journey.
- figurativelyinformalA utilitarian stop on a figurative journey.
Origin
From pit + stop. First use appears c. 1915.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kuipestop
- kuipestopstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
Catalan aturada a boxs
- aturada a boxsstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
Dutch pitstop, pitsstop
- pitstopstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- pitsstopstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- plaspauzebrief stop for fuel, rest or refreshment during an automobile journey
- tankpauzebrief stop for fuel, rest or refreshment during an automobile journey
Finnish varikkopysähdys, varikkokäynti
- varikkopysähdysstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- varikkokäyntistop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- tankkaustaukobrief stop for fuel, rest or refreshment during an automobile journey
French arrêt au stand
- arrêt au standstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
German Boxenstopp
- Boxenstoppstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
Polish pit stop, pit stop
- pit stopstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- pit stopbrief stop for fuel, rest or refreshment during an automobile journey
Portuguese parada nos boxes
- parada nos boxesstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
Spanish parada en boxes, parada técnica
- parada en boxesstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- parada técnicastop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
- repecharbrief stop for fuel, rest or refreshment during an automobile journey
Swedish depå
- depåstop made during an automobile race at the pit to refuel
Cite this entry
pit stop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pit%20stop
“pit stop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pit%20stop. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pit stop,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pit%20stop.
Source: pit stop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.