pit boss

See also: pit-boss

English

Alternative forms

pit-boss

Noun

pit boss (plural pit bosses)

(mining, dated) A direct overseer of laborers in a mining operation.
- 1890, "Consolidated Coal Co. v. Wombacher" (Supreme Court of Illinois) in The Northeastern Reporter, vol. 24, p. 628 (Google preview):
  It is, among other things, sufficiently stated in the declaration that appellant is owner and operator of a coal mine, and has in its employ a pit boss, to whom it has given authority to direct and control the labors of those employed in its mine.
- 1917, Upton Sinclair, King Coal, book 4, ch. 6:
  How long could a man expect to stand on the steps of a company building, with a super and a pit-boss at his back, and organise a union of mine-workers?
(gambling) A supervisor who oversees the dealers and activity at the gaming tables in a casino, and who typically has the authority to expel unruly gamblers from the premises.
- 2007 July 22, Selena Roberts, “Stewards of Sport Need a Lesson From the Pit Bosses”, in New York Times, retrieved 10 June 2015:
  Las Vegas: The pit boss sees all on the casino floor as a trained trouble spotter amid this high-roller’s paradise.
- 2014 January 16, Victoria Bekiempis, “Atlantic City's Last 'Low-Roller' Casino Busts”, in Newsweek, retrieved 10 June 2015:
  One woman at a baccarat table […] shouted and mumbled something about wanting her money back, or at least the opportunity to win it back. A pit boss standing behind the dealer joked: “I don’t have any money! I’m unemployed!” and a few moments later, a security guard escorted the woman off the floor.
(motor racing) The supervisor of the maintenance pit crew of a driver.
- 2009, Gerry Souter, The Earnhardts: A Biography, →ISBN, page 29:
  In that same race, the first use of two-way radio-to-pits communication was logged. Al Stevens, who operated a radio dispatch service in Maryland, kept in contact with his pit boss, Cotton Bennett, throughout the race.