Pitch

From Old English piÄ‹, from Latin pÄ«x. Cognate with Dutch pek, German Pech.

Full definition of pitch

(plural pitches)

A sticky, gummy substance secreted by trees; sap.It is hard to get this pitch off of my hand.
A dark, extremely viscous material remaining in still after distilling crude oil and tar.They put pitch on the mast to protect it. The barrel was sealed with pitch.It was pitch black because there was no moon.
(geology) pitchstone

From Middle English pitch ("to thrust in, fasten, settle"), from Old English

(plural pitches)

A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand.
a good pitch in quoits
(the act of pitching a baseball)(baseball) The act of pitching a baseball.
The pitch was low and inside.
(sports) The field on which cricket, soccer, rugby or field hockey is played. In cricket, the pitch is in the centre of the field; see cricket pitch.
The teams met on the pitch.
An effort to sell or promote something.
He gave me a sales pitch.
The distance between evenly spaced objects, e.g. the teeth of a saw, the turns of a screw thread, or letters in a monospace font.
The pitch of pixels on the point scale is 72 pixels per inch.
The pitch of this saw is perfect for that type of wood.
The angle at which an object sits.
the pitch of the roof or haystack
More specifically, the rotation angle about the transverse axis.
A level or degree.
(aviation) A measure of the degree to which an aircraft's nose tilts up or down.
the pitch of an aircraft
(aviation) A measure of the angle of attack of a propeller.
the propellor blades' pitch
(nautical) The measure of extent to which a nautical vessel rotates on its athwartships axis, causing its bow and stern to go up and down. Compare with roll, yaw and heave.
The place where a busker performs.
An area in a market (or similar) allocated to a particular trader.
A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.

1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, Oxford University Press (1973), section 11:But, except the mind be disordered by disease or madness, they never can arrive at such a pitch of vivacity
John MiltonDriven headlong from the pitch of heaven, down
Into this deep.
William ShakespeareEnterprises of great pitch and moment.
AddisonHe lived when learning was at its highest pitch.
1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness.

(climbing) A section of a climb or rock face; specifically, the climbing distance between belays or stances.
(caving) A vertical cave passage, only negotiable by using rope or ladders.
The entrance pitch requires 30 metres of rope.
(now UK regional) A person or animal's height.

1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.2:Alba the emperor was crook-backed, Epictetus lame; that great Alexander a little man of stature, Augustus CÃ¦sar of the same pitch ...

That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.
A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.
The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant.
a steep pitch in the road; the pitch of a roof
(mining) The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.
(engineering) The distance from centre to centre of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; called also circular pitch.
The length, measured along the axis, of a complete turn of the thread of a screw, or of the helical lines of the blades of a screw propeller.
The distance between the centres of holes, as of rivet holes in boiler plates.

(to throw)(transitive) To throw.He pitched the horseshoe.
(baseball: to throw the ball toward home plate)(transitive or intransitive, baseball) To throw (the ball) toward home plate.(transitive) The hurler pitched a curveball.(intransitive) He pitched high and inside.
(intransitive, baseball) To play baseball in the position of pitcher.Bob pitches today.
(transitive) To throw away; discard.He pitched the candy wrapper.
(transitive) To promote, advertise, or attempt to sell.He pitched the idea for months with no takers.
(transitive) To deliver in a certain tone or style, or with a certain audience in mind.At which level should I pitch my presentation?
(transitive) To assemble or erect (a tent). Pitch the tent over there.
(intransitive) To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.

Bible, Genesis xxxi. 25Laban with his brethren pitched in the Mount of Gilead.

(ambitransitive, aviation or nautical) To move so that the front of an aircraft or ship goes alternatively up and down.(transitive) The typhoon pitched the deck of the ship.(intransitive) The airplane pitched.
(transitive, golf) To play a short, high, lofty shot that lands with backspin.The only way to get on the green from here is to pitch the ball over the bunker.
(intransitive, cricket) To bounce on the playing surface.The ball pitched well short of the batsman.
(intransitive, Bristol, of snow) To settle and build up, without melting.
To alight; to settle; to come to rest from flight.

TillotsonPitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the more easy.

To plunge or fall; especially, to fall forward; to decline or slope.to pitch from a precipiceThe vessel pitches in a heavy sea.The field pitches toward the east.
To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway.
To set or fix, as a price or value.

Unknown

(plural pitches)

(music) The perceived frequency of a sound or note.The pitch of middle "C" is familiar to many musicians.
(music) In an a cappella group, the singer responsible for singing a note for the other members to tune themselves by. Bob, our pitch, let out a clear middle "C" and our conductor gave the signal to start.