PITCH

I. noun Etymology: Middle English pich, from Old English pic, from Latin pic-, pix; akin to Greek pissa ~, Old Church Slavic pĭcĭlŭ Date: before 12th century a black or dark viscous substance obtained as a residue in the distillation of organic materials and especially tars, any of various bituminous substances, resin obtained from various conifers and often used medicinally, any of various artificial mixtures resembling resinous or bituminous ~es, II. transitive verb Date: before 12th century to cover, smear, or treat with or as if with ~, III. verb see: pike Date: 13th century transitive verb to erect and fix firmly in place , to throw usually with a particular objective or toward a particular point , to throw (a baseball) to a batter, to toss (as coins) so as to fall at or near a mark , to put aside or discard by or as if by throwing , 3. to present or advertise especially in a high-pressure way ; plug , promote , to attempt to persuade especially with a sales ~, to present (a movie or program idea) for consideration (as by a TV producer), 4. a. to cause to be at a particular level or of a particular quality , to set in a particular musical key, to cause to be set at a particular angle ; slope , to utter glibly and insincerely, 6. to use as a starting ~er, to play as ~er, to hit (a golf ball) in a high arc with backspin so that it rolls very little after striking the green, throw 14 , intransitive verb 1. to fall precipitately or headlong, b. to have the bow alternately plunge precipitately and rise abruptly, to turn about a lateral axis so that the forward end rises or falls in relation to the after end, buck 1, encamp , to hit upon or happen upon something , to incline downward ; slope , 5. to throw a ball to a batter, to play ball as a ~er, to ~ a golf ball, to make a sales ~, see: throw IV. noun Date: 1542 1. slope , the distance between any of various things: as, distance between one point on a gear tooth and the corresponding point on the next tooth, distance from any point on the thread of a screw to the corresponding point on an adjacent thread measured parallel to the axis, the theoretical distance a propeller would advance longitudinally in one revolution, the number of teeth or of threads per inch, a unit of width of type based on the number of times a letter can be set in a linear inch, the action or a manner of ~ing, top , zenith , 4. the relative level, intensity, or extent of some quality or state , b. the property of a sound and especially a musical tone that is determined by the frequency of the waves producing it ; highness or lowness of sound, a standard frequency for tuning instruments, c. the difference in the relative vibration frequency of the human voice that contributes to the total meaning of speech, a definite relative ~ that is a significant phenomenon in speech, 5. a steep place ; declivity , the portion of a route (as in mountain climbing or caving) between belay points, 6. chiefly British an outdoor site (as for camping or doing business), playing field 1, an all-fours game in which the first card led is a trump, 8. an often high-pressure sales presentation, advertisement , recommendation , plug , 9. the delivery of a baseball by a ~er to a batter, a baseball so thrown, ~out 2, ~ed adjective