pa.chat denotes a pit-like hollow used for hiding, casting someone down, falling, or nesting beside.

The noun denotes a pit-like hollow: people may hide in it, be thrown into it, fall into it, or nest at its sides. In several warning contexts, it stands alongside terror and a snare as part of an inescapable sequence of danger.

1. A hollow used for concealment, falling, or burial · dominant

   In 2 Samuel 17:9 the plural form occurs where someone is hidden in one of the pits; in 2 Samuel 18:17 the singular is the place into which Absalom is thrown and covered with stones. In Isaiah 24:18 and Jeremiah 48:44, the singular marks the place into which a person fleeing terror falls before attempting to climb out; Jeremiah 48:28 places a dove at its sides.

   2 Samuel 17:92 Samuel 18:17Isaiah 24:18Jeremiah 48:28Jeremiah 48:44Lamentations 3:47

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the occurrences, the APB presents the noun as “pit” or “pits,” including places of hiding, throwing, falling, and nesting beside. In Isaiah 24:17 and Jeremiah 48:43 it appears in the repeated sequence “Terror, pit, and snare,”.