sandpit

• sand pit

From Middle English sandpitte, sandpette, sandpütte, from Old English sandpytt (“sandpit”), equivalent to sand +‎ pit.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsænd.pɪt/

sandpit (plural sandpits)

1. A place or pit from which sand is excavated.
2. A children’s play area consisting of a large container filled with sand.

   Synonym: sandbox

3. (television) A small-scale illustrative model of the theater of war in the Middle East.
   • 1991, British Broadcasting Corporation, “The Annual Report & Accounts”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Originally designed to illustrate Kuwait and the oil pipelines, the 'sandpit', based on maps and photographs to a scale of 1:1,000,000, was extended to include other countries.

   • 1992, Richard Hamilton, Simon Wilson, “Richard Hamilton: 17 June - 6 September 1992, Tate Gallery”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     […] the commentaries on the battle given by Peter Snow with the aid of a model of the theatre of war, known as the 'Sandpit'.

   • 2005, Robert Fisk, “The Great War for civilisation: the conquest of the Middle East”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     […] a conflict that did not fit so easily into the television studios, with their super-patriotic anchormen, their verbose ex-generals, their model tanks and their bloodless sandpits.

• Pandits, pandits