tar pit

1. 1.

   a natural accumulation of bitumens at the surface of the earth; often acts as a trap for animals whose bones are thus preserved

   Broaderpit

Questions about tar pit

What does tar pit mean?

tar pit means "a natural accumulation of bitumens at the surface of the earth; often acts as a trap for animals whose bones are thus preserved".

Is tar pit a common word?

tar pit is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.