I. pitch 1 S3 W3 /pɪtʃ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1-5, 7-9: Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ pitch 2 ]
[ Sense 6: Language: Old English ; Origin: pic , from Latin pix ]
1 . SPORTS FIELD [countable] British English a marked out area of ground on which a sport is played SYN field
football/cricket/rugby etc pitch
the world-famous Wembley football pitch
He ran the length of the pitch and scored.
on the pitch (=playing a sport)
Jack was on the pitch for his school in the Senior Cup Final.
2 . STRONG FEELINGS/ACTIVITY [singular, uncountable] a strong level of feeling about something or a high level of an activity or a quality:
The controversy reached such a pitch (=become so strong) that the paper devoted a whole page to it.
a pitch of excitement/excellence/perfection etc (=a high level of excitement etc)
He screamed at her in a pitch of fury.
The goal roused the crowd to fever pitch (=a very excited level) .
3 . MUSIC
a) [singular, uncountable] how high or low a note or other sound is:
Ultrasonic waves are at a higher pitch than the human ear can hear.
b) [uncountable] the ability of a musician to play or sing a note at exactly the correct level:
She’s got perfect pitch.
4 . PERSUADING [countable] informal the things someone says to persuade people to buy something, do something, or accept an idea:
an aggressive salesman with a fast-talking sales pitch
make a/sb’s pitch (for something) (=try to persuade people to do something)
He made his strongest pitch yet for standardized testing in schools.
5 . BASEBALL [countable] a throw of the ball, or a way in which it can be thrown:
His first pitch was high and wide.
6 . BLACK SUBSTANCE [uncountable] a black sticky substance that is used on roofs, the bottoms of ships etc to stop water coming through:
The night was as black as pitch (=very dark) .
⇨ ↑ pitch-black , ↑ pitch-dark
7 . SHIP/AIRCRAFT [uncountable] an up and down movement of a ship or an aircraft ⇨ roll :
the pitch and roll of the ship
8 . SLOPE [singular, uncountable] the degree to which a roof slopes or the sloping part of a roof:
the steep pitch of the roof
9 . STREET/MARKET [countable] British English a place in a public area where someone goes to sell things or where an entertainer goes to perform:
We found the boy at his usual pitch at the bottom of the Acropolis.
⇨ queer sb’s pitch/queer the pitch for somebody at ↑ queer 3
II. pitch 2 BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Origin: Origin unknown ]
1 . THROW [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to throw something with a lot of force, often aiming carefully:
She crumpled up the page and pitched it into the fire.
2 .
BALL GAMES
a) [intransitive and transitive] to aim and throw a ball in baseball
pitch to
Stanton pitched to two batters in the ninth inning.
b) [intransitive] if a ball pitches in ↑ cricket or golf, it hits the ground
c) [transitive] to hit the ball in a high curve in golf
d) [transitive] to make the ball hit the ground when you are ↑ bowl ing in ↑ cricket
3 . FALL [I, T always + adv/prep] to fall or be moved suddenly in a particular direction, or to make someone or something do this
pitch (somebody/something) forward/backward/over etc
She slipped and pitched forward onto the ground.
pitch somebody/something into/onto/through etc something
Without a seat belt, you can easily be pitched right through the windscreen.
4 . SHIP/PLANE [intransitive] if a ship or an aircraft pitches, it moves up and down in an uncontrolled way with the movement of the water or air ⇨ ↑ roll 2 (4), ↑ yaw
5 . SET A LEVEL [transitive usually passive]
a) to set a speech, examination, explanation etc at a particular level of difficulty
pitch something at a high level/the right level etc
The projects were pitched at a number of different levels.
Some questions were pitched too high for intermediate students.
b) British English to set prices at a particular level
pitch something at something
Room rates are pitched at £69 for a single.
6 . AIM PRODUCT [transitive usually passive] to aim a product at a particular type of organization, group of people etc, or to describe it in a particular way, in order to sell it
pitch something at somebody/something
The new machine will be pitched at users in the hotel and air reservation business.
pitch something as something
It is pitched as a cheaper alternative to other workstations.
7 . BUSINESS DEALS [intransitive and transitive] informal to try to persuade someone to do business with you, buy something etc
pitch for business/contracts/custom etc
Booksellers are keen to pitch for school business.
pitch to
For many companies, pitching to investors has become almost a full-time job.
sales reps pitching new gadgets
8 . VOICE/MUSIC [transitive always + adverb/preposition] if you pitch your voice or another sound at a particular level, the sound is produced at that level
pitch something high/low etc
Her voice is pitched a little too high.
⇨ ↑ high-pitched , ↑ low-pitched
9 . pitch a tent/pitch camp to set up a tent or a camp for a short time:
Try and pitch your tent on level ground.
10 . SLOPE [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to slope down
pitch gently/steeply etc
The roof pitches sharply to the rear of the house.
⇨ ↑ pitched
11 . pitch somebody a line American English informal to tell someone a story or give them an excuse that is difficult to believe:
She pitched me some line about a bomb scare on the metro.
pitch in phrasal verb informal
1 . to join others and help with an activity:
If we all pitch in, we’ll have it finished in no time.
pitch in with
Everyone pitched in with efforts to entertain the children.
2 . to join others and pay part of the money towards something:
They all pitched in and the money was collected within a few days.
3 . British English to start to eat hungrily:
Pitch in – there’s plenty.
pitch into somebody/something phrasal verb British English informal
1 . to suddenly start criticizing someone or hitting them:
She pitched into me as soon as I started to speak.
2 . to start doing something, especially quickly and eagerly:
Rick pitched into decorating the house at once.
pitch up phrasal verb British English spoken
to arrive somewhere SYN turn up :
Wait a bit longer – Bill hasn’t pitched up yet.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ to throw a ball in a sport
▪ pass to throw the ball to another member of your team:
He passed the ball to Wilkinson, who kicked the ball over the goalposts.
▪ pitch to throw the ball to the batter in a game of baseball:
Stoddard pitched for the Chicago White Sox.
▪ bowl to throw the ball towards the person who is batting in a game of cricket:
Harmison bowled superbly and took 5 wickets.