pitfall

[pit-fawl] /ˈpɪtˌfɔl/

noun

a lightly covered and unnoticeable pit prepared as a trap for people or animals.

any trap or danger for the unwary:

the pitfall of excessive pride.

Origin

1275-1325; Middle English pittefalle, equivalent to pitte pit¹ + falle (Old English fealle) trap

Synonyms

1, 2. See trap¹ .

Examples from the web for pitfall

That's part of the pleasure, but there's a potential pitfall.
We may only do the first, which is a major pitfall unless that first is the only reliable piece of data.
The ground is pocked with holes, many no wider than a café table, known as pitfall traps.
To catch the potential new shrews, the team used pitfall traps.
Technical prowess in photography is both necessary and a potential pitfall.
Be strategic to avoid the pitfall of getting bogged down in busy work that never goes anywhere.
Coll has avoided a pitfall facing any reporter who is given access to secret government files.
It is a valid pitfall in everyday logic as well and has implications in social behaviour.
Because an era is defined in clichés, caricature is a natural pitfall of trying to embody one.
It also avoids too-clever-by-half trigger mechanisms and the opposite pitfall of a laborious legal process.

British Dictionary definitions for pitfall

/ˈpɪtˌfɔːl/

noun

an unsuspected difficulty or danger

a trap in the form of a concealed pit, designed to catch men or wild animals

Word Origin

Old English pyttpit1 + fealle trap

Word Origin and History for pitfall

c.1300, "concealed hole," a type of animal trap, from pit (n.1) + fall (n.). Extended sense of "any hidden danger" is first recorded early 15c.