pit toilet

noun

A facility for accepting human waste, typically through personal use via urination and defecation, where the waste is directed into a cesspit directly below the access port used by the person needing facilities. Modern pit toilets typically permanently store the waste for natural decay, and are closed and sealed when full, while historically, they have sometimes been manually harvested for night soil. Pit toilets typically take the form of an outhouse.

Meanings

nounpit toilet (plural pit toilets)

plural pit toilets

  1. A facility for accepting human waste, typically through personal use via urination and defecation, where the waste is directed into a cesspit directly below the access port used by the person needing facilities. Modern pit toilets typically permanently store the waste for natural decay, and are closed and sealed when full, while historically, they have sometimes been manually harvested for night soil. Pit toilets typically take the form of an outhouse.
Cite this entry
APA

pit toilet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pit%20toilet

MLA

“pit toilet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pit%20toilet. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pit toilet,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pit%20toilet.

Source: pit toilet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.