Dictionary:
pitch1 (pĭch) ![]() |
- Any of various thick, dark, sticky substances obtained from the distillation residue of coal tar, wood tar, or petroleum and used for waterproofing, roofing, caulking, and paving.
- Any of various natural bitumens, such as mineral pitch or asphalt.
- A resin derived from the sap of various coniferous trees, as the pines.
To smear or cover with or as if with pitch.
[Middle English pich, from Old English pic and from Anglo-Norman piche, both from Latin pix, pic-.]
pitch2 (pĭch)

v., pitched, pitch·ing, pitch·es. v.tr.
- To throw, usually with careful aim. See synonyms at throw.
- To discard by throwing: pitched the can out the window.
- Baseball.
- To throw (the ball) from the mound to the batter.
- To play (a game) as pitcher.
- To assign as pitcher.
- To erect or establish; set up: pitched a tent; pitch camp.
- To set firmly; implant; embed: pitched stakes in the ground.
- To set at a specified downward slant: pitched the roof at a steep angle.
- To set at a particular level, degree, or quality: pitched her expectations too high.
- Music. To set the pitch or key of.
- To adapt so as to be applicable; direct: pitched his speech to the teenagers in the audience.
- Informal. To attempt to promote or sell, often in a high-pressure manner: “showed up on local TV to pitch their views” (Business Week).
- Sports. To hit (a golf ball) in a high arc with backspin so that it does not roll very far after striking the ground.
- Games.
- To lead (a card), thus establishing the trump suit.
- To discard (a card other than a trump and different in suit from the card led).
- To throw or toss something, such as a ball, horseshoe, or bale.
- Baseball. To play in the position of pitcher.
- To plunge headlong: He pitched over the railing.
- To stumble around; lurch.
- To buck, as a horse.
- Nautical. To dip bow and stern alternately.
- To oscillate about a lateral axis so that the nose lifts or descends in relation to the tail. Used of an aircraft.
- To oscillate about a lateral axis that is both perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and horizontal to the earth. Used of a missile or spacecraft.
- To slope downward: The hill pitches steeply.
- To set up living quarters; encamp; settle.
- Sports. To hit a golf ball in a high arc with backspin so that it does not roll very far after striking the ground.
- The act or an instance of pitching.
- Baseball.
- A throw of the ball by the pitcher to the batter.
- A ball so thrown.
- Chiefly British. A playing field. Also called wicket.
- Nautical. The alternate dip and rise of the bow and stern of a ship.
- The alternate lift and descent of the nose and tail of an airplane.
- A steep downward slope.
- The degree of such a slope.
- Architecture.
- The angle of a roof.
- The highest point of a structure: the pitch of an arch.
- A level or degree, as of intensity: worked at a feverish pitch to meet the deadline.
- Acoustics. The distinctive quality of a sound, dependent primarily on the frequency of the sound waves produced by its source.
- Music. The relative position of a tone within a range of musical sounds, as determined by this quality.
- Music. Any of various standards for this quality associating each tone with a particular frequency.
- The distance traveled by a machine screw in a single revolution.
- The distance between two corresponding points on adjacent screw threads or gear teeth.
- The distance between two corresponding points on a helix.
- The distance that a propeller would travel in an ideal medium during one complete revolution, measured parallel to the shaft of the propeller.
- Informal.
- A line of talk designed to persuade: “[his] pious pitch for . . . austerity” (Boston Globe).
- An advertisement.
- Chiefly British. The stand of a vendor or hawker.
- Games. See seven-up.
- Printing. The density of characters in a printed line, usually expressed as characters per inch.
pitch in Informal.
- To set to work vigorously.
- To join forces with others; help or cooperate.
- To attack verbally or physically; assault.
- Informal.
- To succeed in choosing or achieving, usually quickly: pitched on the ideal solution.
[Middle English pichen, probably from Old English *piccean, causative of *pīcian, to prick.]



