Word.ws English Dictionary

pitfalling

pitfalling adjective: entrapping; ensnaring. Also the present participle and gerund of pitfall.

Adjective

pitfalling (not comparable)

  1. Entrapping; ensnaring.
    • able to shew us the ways of the Lord straight and faithful as they are, not full of cranks and contradictions, and pitfalling dispenses1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC
    • But always with my future as Nicholas's illustration of moral pitfalling possibilities.2013, Julian Mitchell, Imaginary Toys

Noun

pitfalling (plural not attested)

  1. (no plural) The practice of setting up and using pitfalls to capture animals.
    • Here is all the evidence of which we are at present cognizant; but is it not almost enough to start a party for New Zealand in the hope of trapping, toiling, or pitfalling, —anything but shooting, —the biggest bird in the world, and bringing it alive to England, as the crown of the Knowsley and the...1851, Edmund Saul Dixon, The Dovecote and the Aviary, page 369
    • Hunting, poisoning, trapping, pitfalling and other types of extermination campaigns are carried out and are sometimes organized by local authorities.2013, C.A. Tisdell, Wild Pigs: Environmental Pest or Economic Resource?, page 20
  2. (no plural) The process or act of succumbing to an unexpected hazard or pitfall.
    • Now, falling in love is one thing, but pitfalling is another. A man dislikes the thought of being trapped into a marriage.1865, Coelbs Solon Smith, “A Case of Real Distress”, in Punch, volume 49, page 239
    • It may take some trying and pitfalling, but the end result will be a lot more satisfying than George Babbitt's uniform.1961, Men's Wear - Volume 143, page 2

Also used as

pitfalling is also the present participle and gerund of pitfall.

Examples of pitfalling in a sentence

  • When pitfalling in dry areas, birds and other animals soon learn where to get a drink.2023, George C. McGavin, Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou, Essential Entomology, page 287:
  • Pitfalling can be by commission, when grouping members do something that gets them into trouble.2005, John O. Burtis, Paul D. Turman, Group Communication Pitfalls, page 65:
  • To exemplify such constraints and appropriately conclude the chapter, our last example will be an actual case of pitfalling (a recent one of ours!) .2013, M.A. Ali, Environmental Physiology of Fishes, page 673:

Questions about pitfalling

What does pitfalling mean?
Pitfalling means entrapping; ensnaring.
How do you use pitfalling in a sentence?
When pitfalling in dry areas, birds and other animals soon learn where to get a drink.
What part of speech is pitfalling?
Pitfalling can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near pitfalling in the dictionary

  1. Piteå
  2. Pitești
  3. pitfall
  4. pitfall and gin
  5. pitfalled
  6. pitfalling
  7. pitfalls
  8. pitfalls and gins
  9. pitful
  10. pitfuls
  11. pith

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pitfalling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “pitfalling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pitfalling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.