Dig into pit after picking up tool for cutting (7)
I believe the answer is:
examine
'dig' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'pit after picking up tool for cutting' is the wordplay.
'pit' becomes 'mine' (I've seen this before).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'picking up' is a reversal indicator.
'tool for cutting' becomes 'axe'.
'axe' in reverse letter order is 'exa'.
'mine' put after 'exa' is 'EXAMINE'.
'into' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for examine that I've seen before include "Inspect , test" , "Check" , "Thoroughly inspect" , "Closely study" , "Inspect, peruse closely" .)