cesspit

2 8.6

A covered tank under the ground that holds dirty water and waste from toilets

noun
/ˈsɛspɪt/

: pozo séptico

The cesspits of Dol Guldur have been emptied.

Examples

It is working on developing best management practices for cleaning its many lagoons and cesspits and regulating septage disposal sites.

Academic text (2000)
After months of use, the cesspit was filled and needed to be emptied.
- Building a cesspit over there.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
We need to end the delays, get on with the legislation and clean out the cesspit once and for all.
There's a cesspit over there.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
The workers dug a cesspit to collect the wastewater from the building site.
He showed the contractors where to locate the new cesspit for sewage disposal.

Synonyms

cesspool

vscesspit

33 7.7

An underground pit or tank that holds sewage and dirty water from a house

is a general term for covered underground waste storage not only household

sump

vscesspit

Specialized

1 8.2

A pit that holds water or dirty water so it can be pumped away

is used specifically for covered storage of wastewater and sewage rather than general liquids

Compounds

cesspit of insults

Offensive

9.4

A situation where people use rude or abusive words at each other

cesspit of trash

Informal

8.6

A place that is very dirty and full of trash and bad smells

Surface Forms

cesspit singular

cesspits plural

Morphology

cesspit = pit (semi-transparent) = cess + pit

The element 'pit' is transparent, but 'cess' is an uncommon/archaic element (not a productive modern English morpheme), so the full composition is only partly obvious to learners.

Etymology

Cesspit comes from two simple parts: cess, an old word for 'waste' or 'dung', and pit, meaning a 'hole'. So a cesspit is a hole for waste, which is why it means an underground tank for sewage.