pitch 1
— pitchable , adj.
/pich/ , v.t.
1. to erect or set up (a tent, camp, or the like).
2. to put, set, or plant in a fixed or definite place or position.
3. to throw, fling, hurl, or toss.
4. Baseball.
a. to deliver or serve (the ball) to the batter.
b. to fill the position of pitcher in (a game): He pitched a no-hitter. He pitched a good game.
c. to choose or assign as a pitcher for a game: The manager pitched Greene the next night.
5. to set at a certain point, degree, level, etc.: He pitched his hopes too high.
6. Music. to set at a particular pitch, or determine the key or keynote of (a melody).
7. Cards.
a. to lead (a card of a particular suit), thereby fixing that suit as trump.
b. to determine (the trump) in this manner.
8. to pave or revet with small stones.
9. Masonry.
a. to square (a stone), cutting the arrises true with a chisel.
b. to cut with a chisel.
10. Informal. to attempt to sell or win approval for; promote; advertise: to pitch breakfast foods at a sales convention.
11. Informal. to approach or court (as a person, company, or the public) in hope of a sale, approval, or interest; make an appeal to.
12. to cause to pitch.
13. Obs. to set in order; to arrange, as a field of battle.
14. Obs. to fix firmly as in the ground; embed.
v.i.
15. to plunge or fall forward or headlong.
16. to lurch.
17. to throw or toss.
18. Baseball.
a. to deliver or serve the ball to the batter.
b. to fill the position of pitcher: He pitched for the Mets last year.
19. to slope downward; dip.
20. to plunge with alternate fall and rise of bow and stern, as a ship (opposed to roll ).
21. (of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillations of the longitudinal axis in a vertical plane about the center of gravity.
22. to fix a tent or temporary habitation; encamp: They pitched by a mountain stream.
23. Golf. to play a pitch shot.
24. Informal. to attempt to sell or win approval for something or someone by advertising, promotion, etc.: politicians pitching on TV.
25. Rare. to become established; settle down.
26. pitch in , Informal.
a. to begin to work in earnest and vigorously: If I really pitch in, I may be able to finish the paper before the deadline.
b. to contribute to a common cause; join in: When they took up a collection for the annual dinner, he promised to pitch in.
27. pitch into , Informal.
a. to attack verbally or physically: He apologized for pitching into me yesterday.
b. to begin to work on vigorously.
28. pitch on or upon , to choose, esp. casually or without forethought; decide on: We pitched on a day for our picnic.
n.
29. relative point, position, or degree: a high pitch of excitement.
30. the degree of inclination or slope; angle: the pitch of an arch; the pitch of a stair.
31. the highest point or greatest height: enjoying the pitch of success.
32. (in music, speech, etc.) the degree of height or depth of a tone or of sound, depending upon the relative rapidity of the vibrations by which it is produced.
33. Music. the particular tonal standard with which given tones may be compared in respect to their relative level.
34. Acoustics. the apparent predominant frequency sounded by an acoustical source.
35. act or manner of pitching.
36. a throw or toss.
37. Baseball. the serving of the ball to the batter by the pitcher, usually preceded by a windup or stretch.
38. a pitching movement or forward plunge, as of a ship.
39. upward or downward inclination or slope: a road descending at a steep pitch.
40. a sloping part or place: to build on the pitch of a hill.
41. a quantity of something pitched or placed somewhere.
42. Cricket. the central part of the field; the area between the wickets.
43. Informal.
a. a high-pressure sales talk: The salesman made his pitch for the new line of dresses.
b. a specific plan of action; angle: to tackle a problem again, using a new pitch.
44. the specific location in which a person or object is placed or stationed; allotted or assigned place.
45. Chiefly Brit. the established location, often a street corner, of a beggar, street peddler, newspaper vendor, etc.
46. Aeron.
a. the nosing of an airplane or spacecraft up or down about a transverse axis.
b. the distance that a given propeller would advance in one revolution.
47. (of a rocket or guided missile)
a. the motion due to pitching.
b. the extent of the rotation of the longitudinal axis involved in pitching.
48. Also called plunge . Geol. the inclination of a linear feature, as the axis of a fold or an oreshoot, from the horizontal.
49. Mach.
a. the distance between the corresponding surfaces of two adjacent gear teeth measured either along the pitch circle (circular pitch) or between perpendiculars to the root surfaces (normal pitch) .
b. the ratio of the number of teeth in a gear or splined shaft to the pitch circle diameter, expressed in inches.
c. the distance between any two adjacent things in a series, as screw threads, rivets, etc.
50. (in carpet weaving) the weftwise number of warp ends, usually determined in relation to 27 inches (68.6 cm).
51. Cards.
a. See all fours (def. 2).
b. See auction pitch .
52. Masonry. a true or even surface on a stone.
53. (of typewriter type) a unit of measurement indicating the number of characters to a horizontal inch: Pica is a 10-pitch type.
[ 1175-1225; (v.) ME picchen to thrust, pierce, set, set up (a tent, etc.), array, throw; perh. akin to PICK 1 ; (n.) deriv. of the v. ]
Syn. 3. See throw .
pitch 2
— pitchlike , adj.
/pich/ , n.
1. any of various dark, tenacious, and viscous substances for caulking and paving, consisting of the residue of the distillation of coal tar or wood tar.
2. any of certain bitumens, as asphalt: mineral pitch.
3. any of various resins.
4. the sap or crude turpentine that exudes from the bark of pines.
v.t.
5. to smear or cover with pitch.
[ bef. 900; ME pich, OE pic pic- (s. of pix ), whence also D pek, G Pech; akin to Gk píssa pitch ]