PITFALL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does pitfall mean? 

• PITFALL (noun)
  The noun PITFALL has 2 senses:

1. an unforeseen or unexpected or surprising difficulty

2. a trap in the form of a concealed hole

  Familiarity information: PITFALL used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PITFALL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An unforeseen or unexpected or surprising difficulty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

booby trap; pitfall

Hypernyms ("pitfall" is a kind of...):

difficulty (a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A trap in the form of a concealed hole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pit; pitfall

Hypernyms ("pitfall" is a kind of...):

trap (a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned)

 Context examples 

I found myself in the condition of a schoolmaster, a trap, a pitfall; of always playing spider to Dora's fly, and always pouncing out of my hole to her infinite disturbance.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

On our way upstairs, I called her attention to the sudden disappearance of Mrs. Crupp's pitfalls, and also to the prints of recent footsteps.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

After this, Mrs. Crupp confined herself to making pitfalls on the stairs, principally with pitchers, and endeavouring to delude Peggotty into breaking her legs.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)