ˈarmˌpit
[f. arm n.1]
1. The hollow under the arm where it is jointed to the trunk.
| a 1400 Metr. Voc. in Wright Voc. 179 Acella, arme-pytt. 1528 Paynell Salerne Regim. Rj, Under y⊇ arme pittis, and in the groynes. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. 130 We are unwilling to put the rags under our arme-pits. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 630 The English infantry struggled through the river, up to their armpits in water. |
2. The corresponding cavity in other animals. Cf. arm-hole. arch. or Obs.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 347 The Elephant alone hath twaine vnder his shoulders or legs before..lying hidden as it were within the arm-pits. |
† 3. fig. The axil of a plant. Obs.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 123 Vnder the wings or arm-pits (as it were) of the leaues. |
4. fig. Used (esp. in the formula the armpit of the nation, etc.) to designate a place or part considered disgusting or contemptible; a place that ‘stinks’. colloq. (chiefly U.S.).
| [1965: see pit n.1 9 a]. 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 3 Armpit of the nation, n. Las Cruces.—New Mexico State. 1973 N.Y. Times 19 Aug. 15 She is an amateur,..with no real notion of who might be out there in the armpit of America, grunting at what she says. 1978 J. Wambaugh Black Marble iv. 40 77th Street Station..was the armpit of detective duty. 1986 Washington Post 14 Jan. b3/2 Your alma mater is still the armpit of the universe. |