| 释义 |
▪ I. pitch, n.1|pɪtʃ|
Forms: 1–2 pic; 2–5 pich, 3–6 pych, (3 pisch), 4–5 pycche, picche, 4–6 pyche, (5 peche), 5–6 piche, pytch(e, pitche, 6– pitch. β. (northern) 3–6 pik, 4 pic, pike, 4–5 pyke, pikke, 4–6 pyk, pyck, 5 picke, pikk, pykk(e, 6–7 (8–9 dial.) pick.
[OE. pic, ad. L. pix, pic-em (whence also OS., LG. pik, Du. pek, pik, OHG. pëh, bëh, Ger. pech, ON. bik).]
1. A tenacious resinous substance, of a black or dark brown colour, hard when cold, becoming a thick viscid semi-liquid when heated; obtained as a residuum from the boiling or distillation of tar, also from the distillation of turpentine; used to stop the seams of ships after caulking, to protect wood from moisture, and for other purposes.
a700Epinal Gloss. 820 (O.E.T.) Pix, picis, pic. a1050Liber Scintill. xvii. (1889) 83 Se þe æthrinð pic byð besmiten fram him. a1200Moral Ode 245 (Lamb. MS.) Þer is bernunde pich hore saule to baþien inne. c1250Death 211 in O.E. Misc. 181 Of pych [v.r. pisch] and of brunston. 1390Gower Conf. III. 312 Let make a cofre strong of bord, That it be ferm with led and pich. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxiii. (Tollem. MS.), Of picche is double maner kynde, þe ton is calde schippe picche. [1495Ibid. (W. de W.), The harde pytche hyght shippe pytche.] 1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 171 Pych, terre, borde, and flex. 1496Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 174 Laying on of piche. Ibid. 176, xj barelles peche. Ibid. 181, iij barrelles pytche. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 362 Piche, Tarre, Rosen, Ropes. 1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §7 As dark as Pitch is black. 1744Berkeley Siris §13 Liquid pitch..or tar was obtained by setting fire to billets of old fat pines or firs. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxv, The very smell of pitch and tar has become odious to me. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 58 Pitch is tar boiled with a certain quantity of water and with a portion of coarse resin melted with it.
βa1240Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 269 Al þat pinende pik ne walde ham þunche bote a softe bekinde bað. 13..Cursor M. 11885 (Cott.) Þai fild a lede o pik [v.rr. pike, pic; c 1425 Trin. picche] and oyle. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxii. (Justin) 733, & [gert] þare-in be done blak pic and gert brynstane bla. c1460Towneley Myst. iii. 127 Anoynt thi ship with pik and tar. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. 31 All full of brintstane, pick, and bulling leid. 1571Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) I. 364 In ye seller..v berrells of pyk. a1775Hobie Noble xii. in Child Ballads vii. (1890) 2/2 Tho dark the night as pick and tar. 1828Craven Gloss. (ed. 2) s.v. Pick, ‘As dark as pick’.
2. Applied to various bituminous substances (mineral pitch); esp. (Jew's pitch) = asphalt 1, bitumen 1.
1388Wyclif Gen. vi. 14 Thou schalt anoynte it with pitche [1382 glew, Vulg. bitumine] with ynne and with outforth. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xii. 50 Men callez it þe Lac Asfaltit, þat es to say, þe Lac of Pikke. 1555Eden Decades 134 They gather pytche whiche sweateth owte of the rockes. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xvii. 173 At the point of Cape S. Helaine, there is a spring or fountaine of pitch. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 731 A Vessel of huge bulk,..Smeard round with Pitch. 1831T. P. Jones Convers. Chem. xxviii. 289 Asphaltum, sometimes called Jew's pitch, is a much purer bitumen than common pitch. It is found on the banks of the Dead Sea, and in..Trinidad, forming large beds in the earth. 1836R. M. Martin Hist. W. Indies I. Trinidad 190 The most remarkable mineral phenomenon is the Asphaltum, or Pitch Lake. Ibid. 194 The pitch at the sides of the lake is perfectly hard and cold, but as one walks towards the middle..the pitch becomes softer.
3. a. Improperly applied to the resin or crude turpentine which exudes from pine and fir trees.
Burgundy pitch or white pitch: see Burgundy 5. Canada pitch or hemlock pitch: see hemlock n. 4. Greek pitch = colophony.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxi. (Tollem. MS.), This tre [Pinus] takeþ sone fyre,..for oute þerof comeþ picche. 1495Ibid. cxxiii. 685 Pytche..is droppynge of the pyne tree. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 57 The Pine tree..is sayde to sweate, and to droppe forth Pitch. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. (1668) Table Hard Words, Pitch of Burgundy is Rosen, and the blacker the better. 1874Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 367 Burgundy pitch consists chiefly of resin, but a little volatile oil is present.
†b. = pitch pine, pitch-tree. Obs.
1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 141 The soil..besides Birch⁓trees, hath Fir and Pitch. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 614 Narycian Woods of Pitch, whose gloomy Shade Seems for Retreat of heav'nly Muses made!
4. Proverbial Phrases: black or dark as pitch (cf. pitch black, pitch dark, in 5); he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith (Ecclus. xiii. 1), etc.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6578 Who so handlyþ pycche wellyng hote, He shal haue fylþe þerof sumdeyl. Ibid. 11540 Black as pyk. c1380Sir Ferumb. 2461 Þan lai he þar so blac so pych. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋780 Who so toucheth warm pych it shent hise fyngres. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 74 Who touches Pitch mought needes be defilde. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 117 It growes darke as pitch. 1886H. Conway Living or Dead xx, I was touching pitch, yet striving to keep myself from being defiled.
5. attrib. and Comb., as pitch-ball, pitch-barrel, pitch-heater, pitch-ladle, pitch-pit, pitch-stain, pitch-still; pitch-blackened, pitch-coloured, pitch-lined, pitch-stained, pitch-smelling, pitch-like adjs.; pitch-black a., of the brownish-black colour of pitch; also, intensely black or dark; pitch-boat: see quot.; pitch-boilery, a place or vessel in which tar is boiled for making pitch; pitch-brown a., of the dark brown colour of pitch; pitch-coal, bituminous coal, or other hard bituminous substance, such as jet (quot. 1839); pitch-dark a. (usually as two words when predicative), ‘as dark as pitch’, intensely dark; hence pitch-darkness; pitch-fibre, a black, waterproof material which consists of compressed cellulose or asbestos fibre impregnated under vacuum with pitch and is used for making pipes; pitch-fir = pitch pine; pitch-knot, a pitchy knot (knot n.1 14) of a pine or other tree used as a light; cf. pine-knot; pitch-mark = pitch-brand; so pitch-marked a. = pitch-branded; pitch-mineral = mineral pitch: see sense 2; pick-mirk a. Sc. = pitch-dark; pitch-mop, a mop with which the sides and other parts of a ship are pitched; pitch-opal, an inferior variety of common opal, with a resinous lustre (also called resin-opal); pitch-ore, (a) a dark brown ore of copper, containing bitumen; pitchy copper ore; (b) = pitticite; (c) = pitch-blende; pitch-polisher, a metal instrument for polishing curved surfaces of glass, being coated with a prepared pitch (Byrne Artisan's Hand-bk. 1853, Index); pitch-pot = pitch-kettle; † pitch-speeched a. (obs. nonce-wd.), uttering foul or offensive speech (cf. foul-mouthed); pitch-tankard, a tankard lined with pitch, for imparting a flavour to beer, etc.; † pitch-wine, wine having a flavour of pitch; pitch-wood, the resinous wood of pine or fir trees. See also pitch-blende, etc.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Pitch-bag (Cornw.), a bag covered with pitch, in which powder is inclosed for charging damp holes.
1879Froude Cæsar xix. 315 *Pitch-balls, torches, faggots..to feed the flames.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 29 To bring [the Christians]..upon the stage in a pleasanter way than that of bear-skins and *pitch-barrels.
1599Marston Sco. Villanie ii. v. 197 Tuscus..Hath drawn false lights from *pitch-black loueries. 1849D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 237 The head..and tail, are pitch-black. 1902Temple Bar Mag. June 690 The pitch black cavern of the lower deck.
1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 67 With blunt stump *Pitch-blacken'd sawing the air.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Pitch-boat, a vessel fitted for boiling pitch in, which should be veered astern of the one being caulked.
1885Stallybrass tr. Hehn's Wand. Plants & Anim. 454 *Pitch-boileries in the wooded spurs of the Alps.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 662 Jet; a species of *pitch-coal or glance-coal. 1854Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 33 Varieties in which the fracture is conchoidal and the structure more dense have been distinguished as conchoidal brown coal or pitch coal.
1601Chettle & Munday Death Earl of Huntington ii. i. in Hazl. Dodsley VIII. 256 *Pitch-colour'd, ebon-fac'd, blacker than black.
1827Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. i, The stars prevented it from ever being *pitch dark. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes vi, Ascend these pitch-dark stairs.
1874Hare Story of my Life (1900) IV. xvii. 241 We..set off again..with lanthorns in *pitch darkness.
1946Archit. Rev. CI. 66/1 Externally the drains are in *pitchfibre with precast concrete manholes. 1958Daily Tel. 30 June 4/6 The sales of pitch-fibre pipe continue to expand with the coming into operation of considerably increased productive capacity. 1964L. T. Minchin Famous Pipelines of World vii. 95 Pitch-fibre is in fact a mixture of about 25% waste paper and 75% coal-tar pitch.
1780Von Troil Iceland 41 The growth of..Norway *pitch-firs.
1792J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 90 A lighted *pitch-knot is placed on the outside of a canoe. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 58 The fire-place, within which two or three lighted pitch knots, a substitute for candles, were burning. 1850H. C. Watson Camp-Fires of Revolution 157 We must have some more pitch-knots on the fire.
1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 245 The *pitch-ladle, and covers of the ship's coppers were converted into frying pans.
1694Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 228/1 Ropy or *Pitch-like Wood-soot. 1896Daily News 11 July 6/1 Old Piggins, and leathern pitch-lined beer ‘jacks’, with other like traditional utensils.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §52 Both eare marke, *pitche marke, and radel marke [of sheep]. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1057 If there be pitch⁓marks..they should also be clipped out.
1688Lond. Gaz. No. 2377/4 She has been *Pitch mark'd in several places with a Horse shoe, and a Tarr'd P. on her Rump.
1795Macneill Will & Jean i. 110 *Pick mirk night is setting in.
1759Ann. Reg. 76/2 He..struck him on the breast with a *pitch-mop.
1882Ogilvie, *Pitch-opal, an inferior kind of common opal.
1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. iv. 139 Sometimes this Ore is mixed with Bitumen..and is called Pech Erz or *pitch Ore. 1896Chester Dict. Names Min., Pitch-ore... Also a syn. of pitch-blende. Ibid., Pitticite..f. πιττά, ‘pitch’, because it was earlier called pitch-ore.
1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. xii. 248 Dipping it in the *pitch-pot. 1804Europ. Mag. XLV. 20/1 Cursing till my blood boiled like a pitch-pot.
1596J. Trussell in Southwell's Tri. Death To Rdr., But let this *pitch-speecht mouth defile but one.
1838Dickens O. Twist xlviii, Wine-stains,..*pitch-stains, any stains, all come out at one rub with the..composition.
1890Cent. Dict. s.v. Pitch-tankard, *Pitch-tankards are still used in Germany with certain kinds of beer, such as the Lichtenhainer.
1601Holland Pliny I. 406 This kind of *Pitch wine brought the territory about Vienna into great name.
1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 84 Tumbled him..into the fire-place, among the *pitch-wood.
▪ II. pitch, n.2|pɪtʃ|
[f. pitch v.1 The sense-development is in many points obscure and uncertain, esp. that of branches IV and V, which it is difficult to connect with any sense of the vb.]
I. Act or manner of pitching.
†1.
a. An act of setting, laying, or paying down; concr. that which is laid or thrown down (in quot. a contribution to a meal). Obs. rare.
a1500Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) vii. 107 Lay fourth, each man, alyche, What he hath left of his lyveray; And I will first put forth my piche With my parte first of us all three. c1500in Furniv. Ballads fr. MSS. I. 455 It cost me a Noble at one pyche.
b. An act of pitching or fixing upon a thing or place. (See pitch v.1 16.)
1791in T. Hutchinson's Diary II. 434 We continue to think this is a very agreeable part of England; and perhaps I could not have made a better pitch than I have done.
2. a. An act of plunging head-foremost. Also with advbs. spec. Naut. The plunge or downward motion of a ship's head in a sea-way: see pitch v.1 19 b.
1762–9Falconer Shipwr. ii. 725 At every pitch the o'erwhelming billows bend Beneath their load the quivering bowsprit's end. 1863Atkinson Stanton Grange (1864) 72 A tipsy-looking kind of pitch-forward of the bird. 1870J. Beckett in Eng. Mech. 7 Jan. 411/2 There has been ‘a pitch-in’, as a collision is usually called by drivers and guards. 1870G. Macdonald At Back of North Wind ix, You will know I am near you by every roll and pitch of the vessel.
b. Aeronaut. and Astronautics. = pitching vbl. n.1 8 b; also, the extent of this motion; angle of pitch, the angle between the plane containing the lateral axis and the relative wind and that containing the lateral and longitudinal axes.
1915Rep. & Mem. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. 1913 No. 108. 1 The tests on each model comprise the determination of lift and drift for angles of pitch from -10° to + 10° by 2° steps. 1920L. Bairstow Appl. Aerodynamics iv. 223 The curves for 0° and -5° pitch are seen to lie below those of the rudder alone. 1921S. Brodetsky Mech. Princ. Aeroplane iv. 148 Let there be pitch through an angle θ about the new Y axis. 1935Encycl. Aviation 493/2 In horizontal flight the angle of pitch is the angle between the longitudinal axis and the direction of motion of the aircraft. Ibid. 585/1 Thus a roll causes a yaw, and a yaw causes a roll... When, as often, a pitch is also introduced, it soon becomes apparent why the problem is a difficult one. 1967Technol. Week 20 Feb. 35/3 When the booms are deployed, the spacecraft moment of inertia in pitch and roll with respect to Earth is about 250,000 slug-ft.2 1974Sci. Amer. Dec. 138/2 Shifting his weight to control the craft in pitch, roll and yaw.
3. The act of pitching or throwing underhand (pitch v.1 17).
a. Cricket. The act or manner of pitching or delivering the ball in bowling, or the way in which it pitches or alights.
b. Baseball. The act of pitching or serving the ball to the batter; the right or turn to do this.
c. Golf. The action of ‘lofting’ the ball up to the hole, or to the green.
1833J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 46 The first thing he [sc. the fieldsman] should make himself master of, is to play from the pitch of the ball, and the motion of the batsman, so as to get the start of the ball. 1841‘Bat’ Cricket. Man. 41 A judicious bowler.. varies his style, pitch, and pace, according to the play of the hitter. 1851Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers 15 The pitch of the ball depends very much upon your pace. 1897Ranjitsinhji Cricket 167 One of the main things in making an off-drive in any direction is to get well to the pitch of the ball. 1901Scotsman 9 Sept. 4/7 His pitch overrunning the hole, he gave himself too much to do for a half in 5.
4. a. = pitch-farthing. rare. Now dial.
1742Chesterfield Lett. (1792) I. ciii. 285, I would be melancholy and mortified, if I did not construe Homer, and play at pitch, better than any boy..in my own form. 1886in Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk.
b. Cards. A game resembling all-fours, but so played that the trump suit is determined by ‘pitching’, i.e. leading a card of that suit.
5. slang.
a. A talk, chat: cf. pitch v.1 17 d.
1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms III. xv. 232 Starlight and Jim were having a pitch about the best way to get aboard one of these pearling craft, and how jolly it would be. 1892Pall Mall G. 7 Sept. 2/1 We now have a ‘pitch’ with the men; ‘pitch’, be it said, is another term for talk.
b. Tendentious or persuasive acting or speech, esp. inflated or exaggerated sales-talk; an instance of this, a ‘line’.
1876C. Hindley Life & Adventures of Cheap Jack 255 When I had done my ‘pitch’ and got down from the stage. 1926Variety 29 Dec. 7/4 The outdoor show game with its ‘rag front’,..‘pitch’, [etc.]. 1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 88/2 Pitch, a satisfactory interview with intended victim by a high pressure stock salesman. 1962Listener 18 Jan. 128/1 I've often sat in the living-room listening to some other joker give his pitch before I could give mine. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 3/1 Organizers are planning to allow 40 minutes for each candidate to make his pitch to the convention. 1973Washington Post 13 Jan. a22/2 One novel remedy was correctional ads that required a company to tell the consumer that its earlier pitch was not totally true. 1974K. Millett Flying (1975) iii. 305 Nell hangs fire in the kitchen while I make my pitch. 1976‘O. Bleeck’ No Questions Asked iii. 41, I made my pitch down at headquarters. I told them..I'd better be assigned to this thing full-time. 1976Times 2 Feb. 16/4 Mr Jack Jones has been squealing before he is hurt... He proceeded to get his pitch in early. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 14 Aug. 1/4 Advertising was missing a bet by forsaking the wee- and off-hours for its pitches. 1977Rolling Stone 16 June 43/3 He's not out there making a pitch to the audience to really love him. 1978Observer 29 Jan. 15/6 Actor Charlton Heston makes a recorded pitch for cable television.
II. Something that is pitched, or used for pitching.
†6. A net pitched or set for catching fish. Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Surv. 10 b, To fysshe with shouenettes, trodenettes, small pytches, and suche other. 1590Acts Privy Council (1899) XIX. 406 He should cause the said wayres, stakes and pytches to be removed and plucked up, that the river maie have yts free course. 1705Act 4 Anne c. 21 Nets, Angles, Leaps, Pitches, and other Engines for the taking..of Fish.
7. local.
a. = pitcher2 3;
b. = pitcher2 4.
1674–91Ray S. & E.C. Words 109 A Pitch, a Bar of Iron with a thick square pointed end to make holes in the ground by pitching down. 1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 134 The stakes or pitches..were chiefly of willow. 1856Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XVII. ii. 363 Live stakes (provincially termed withy pitches). 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., s.v., In making new hedges it is usual to stipulate ‘to be planted with good withy or elder pitches’ or ‘pitchers’.
8. A quantity of something pitched.
a. The quantity of hay, etc. thrown up by a pitchfork.
1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 2 Sept. an. 1776, Every pitch of hay and corn, generally speaking, passes twice thro' his hands. 1878Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 76 The ‘pitch’ of hay on the prong.
b. The quantity of some particular commodity pitched or placed in a market for sale.
1866Standard 3 Oct. 2/3 The pitch of cheese was the largest that has been known for some years past. 1886Manch. Courier 18 Feb. 7 There was an immense pitch of cheese yesterday. 1887Daily News 15 Oct. 2/4 The pitch of..hops this year at Weyhill..is smaller than in any year since the blight of 1860. 1888Ibid. 9 July 2/7 Other sorts [of wool]..are being thrown on the market in large pitches.
9. A paving stone; esp. one set on edge, a ‘sett’: = pitcher2 5. Cf. pitch v.1 8 c, pitching vbl. n. 6 b.
1896Daily News 30 Sept. 7/1 A large part of the [Piccadilly] Circus is ‘up’, and is being relaid with granite pitches.
III. Place of pitching.
10. gen. The place or point at or from which something is pitched. rare.
1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. xi, Then pitch one foote of your compasse at the one ende of the line, and with the other foote draw a bowe line right ouer the pytche of the compasse. 1630in Descr. Thames (1758) 75 Every Hebberman shall fish by the Shore, and pitch their Pole at half Ebb, and shall have but forty Fathom Rope allowed from the Pitch of their Pole into the River.
11. a. A place at which one stations oneself or is stationed; a portion of ground selected by or allotted to a person for residence, business, or any occupation; esp. a spot in a street or other public place at which a stall for the sale or display of something is pitched or set up, or at which a street performer, a bookmaker, etc. stations himself. Also, a crowd gathered by a ‘barker’ or around a stall, etc.; the part of a market, stock exchange, etc., where particular commodities are bought and sold. orig. Amer.
1699Derby (Connecticut) Town Rec. (1901) 207 The laying out of John Pringles pitch upon the good hill. 1746Waterbury (Connecticut) Proprietors' Rec. (1911) 166 A ten Acre pitch which his Father bought of Thos Judd of Hartford. 1765T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. I. i. 22 Here Mr. Nowell and some of his friends made their pitch. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 10/2 In consequence of a New Police regulation, ‘stands’ or ‘pitches’ have been forbidden. 1889Daily News 22 Oct. 3/1 Two pitches were made in widely separated quarters of the town, and in each instance the members of Parliament..left a numerous and interested assembly. 1905Ibid. 2 Jan. 9 Having chosen their ‘pitch’ the ponies were unharnessed, triangular fireplaces of stout poles erected. 1943W. B. Taylor Shake it Again xxi. 199 A well-known drapery pitcher (one who sells drapery by pitching it, i.e. telling a story about each article offered, usually gagging in an entertaining way while describing, to keep the pitch interested). 1949[see fanny v.]. 1955Times 19 Aug. 8/3 Once a month, roughly, from May to Poppy Day I am a seller. I prefer the same time—8.30 to 10 o'clock, and the same pitch—outside a row of busy shops, so I meet a number of the same people. 1959Encounter May 22/2 If the street is full, a new pitch is carved out [for a prostitute]. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. 16/1 Barnstaple, with a much smaller pitch than Perth, was a seller's market. 1961Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 15/1 Sir Tufton [Beamish] told Members that he had been to mock auctions in Britain and America. He gave an example of the jargon used: The top man operates his joint by nailing the streamers among the plunder-snatchers in the pitch got by his frontsman, [etc.]. 1978Times 1 Sept. 19/1 Patchy trading on the traded options pitch pushed ICI to the head of the active stocks.
b. A place or spot in a river where an angler takes his stand.
1867F. Francis Angling i. (1880) 44 note, Before the angler..attempts to fish any special hole, swim, pitch, or cast. 1872Echo 5 Aug., A fisherman has had orders from a customer to bait one or two barbel pitches, and not to spare the worms.
c. to queer the pitch: see queer v. 2 b.
12. Agric., and Mining (Cornw.). A definite portion of a field, or of a mine, allotted to a particular workman.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 659 After having completed..one pitch of work, consisting of thirteen ridges, he is to begin again in a similar manner. 1855J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 142 By this management the lode is finally divided into masses called pitches, each sixty feet in height, by about thirty-three feet in length. Ibid. 280 The distance he goes underground, and the places he continues to work in when he arrives at his ‘pitch’, are known to few besides the Cornish miner himself. 1875Temple & Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. 16 The two meadows..were not divided, till the choice pitches were assigned in 1731. 1895J. W. Anderson Prospector's Handbk. (ed. 6) 163 Pitch (Cornwall)—The part of a lode let out to be worked on tribute.
13. Cricket. The place where the wickets are pitched; the piece of ground between and about the wickets.
1871‘Thomsonby’ Cricketers in Council v. 59 Let the pitch be well watered and rolled on the day before the match. 1890Daily News 17 Oct. 5/3 The London Playing Fields Committee is now laying fifteen good cricket pitches in Epping Forest. 1891H. Drummond Baxter's Second Innings i, At that moment the first ball whizzed down the pitch. a1912A. Lang Poet. Works (1923) ii. 62, I am the batsman and the bat, I am the bowler and the ball, The umpire, the pavilion cat, The roller, pitch,..and all. 1955Times 12 May 4/4 The pitch dried too slowly to become really unpleasant during the Middlesex innings. 1972J. Kay Hist. County Cricket: Lancashire vi. 45 The captains debated whether to continue after a long inspection of the pitch. 1976Evening Advertiser (Swindon) 31 Dec. 20/3 The County Ground pitch is likely to be heavy.
b. In other outdoor games: the space on which the game is played; the field, the ground.
1902Glasgow Evening News 7 Apr. 3/1 The International football match was made..memorable by..the collapsing of a portion of the terracing flanking the pitch. 1971J. Reason Victorious Lions vii. 41 The natural banking which almost completely encircled the pitch had been ramped and grassed. 1975Times 10 Apr. 12/3 St Etienne and Bayern Munich..played a goalless tie..on a snow-covered slippery pitch.
†14. fig. A position taken up and maintained; a fixed opinion or resolution. Obs.
1600Holland Livy xxxviii. ix. 987 They knew the natures and minds of their countrymen..how untractable they were and not to be removed if they once tooke a pitch. Ibid. xliv. xxxviii. 1195 None of you may thinke that I have taken such a pitch, and hold that opinion of mine without just cause.
IV. Highest point, height, etc.
†15. The highest (or extreme) point, top, summit, apex, vertex. Obs.
a1552Leland Itin. VII. 5 From this Bridge the great Streate of the Towne goith up apon a pratie Hille: at the Pitch whereof there turnith a nothar Streat by Este to Seint Peter's, the Heade Churche of the Towne. 1587Harrison England i. v. in Holinshed I. 10 The length of the face, taken at large from the pitch of the crowne to the chin. Ibid., From the highest part of the forehead to the pitch of the chin. 1600Holland Livy ii. l. 79 The Veientians..set a compasse about the hill side, and gained the verie top and pitch [vertex] thereof. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 772 Down they fell Driv'n headlong from the Pitch of Heaven, down Into this Deep.
†16. A projecting point of some part of the body, as the shoulder, the hip. (In first quot. app. used for the shoulders collectively.) Obs.
1586Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. ii. i, Such breadth of shoulders as might mainly bear Old Atlas' burden;—'twixt his manly pitch A pearl, more worth than all the world, is placed. 1592R. D. Hypnerotomachia 78 This garment..was taken up round about the pitch of her hippes. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 310 When the shoulder point, or pitch of the shoulder [of a horse], is displaced. 1611Cotgr., Acromion, the shoulder pitch.
17. ? The extreme point of a cape or headland, where it projects farthest into the sea.
1677W. Hubbard Narr. i. 5 The Sea coast from the pitch of Cape Cod to the mouth of Connecticot River. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 150 And very narrowly escap'd clearing the Breakers off the Pitch of the Cape. 1857R. Tomes Amer. in Japan i. 31 In seven hours after leaving Table Bay, the steamer was off the pitch of the Cape. 1883Times 27 Aug. 8/2 To stand close in to the pitch of the lofty headland.
18. a. The height to which a falcon or other bird of prey soars before swooping down on its prey; rarely gen. the height to which any bird rises in the air. Often in phr. to fly a pitch.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 11 Between two Hawks, which flyes the higher pitch. 1593― 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 12 And beares his thoughts aboue his Faulcons Pitch. 1650B. Discolliminium 50 When Buzzards are advanc'd, they'l flie an Eagles pitch. 1828Sebright Hawking 22 Much better..than that his pitch should be lowered..by too much luring. Ibid. 27 The hawk, if at a good pitch, will stoop at him [the magpie] as he passes to another bush. 1852R. F. Burton Falconry Vall. Indus v. 62 Well too did the kite..get to his pitch, and prepare himself for the combat.
b. In directly figurative or allusive use.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxiii. ii, So high a pitch their proud presumption flyes. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 188. 1635–56 Cowley Dav. ii. 126 To this strange pitch their high affections flew. 1718Free thinker No. 77. 151 He flies a Pitch above Common Mischiefs. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne vi. 182 Rabelais flew to a higher pitch, too, than Sterne. 1837–9Hallam Hist. Lit. I. i. iii. §101. 214 Another [comedy] entitled Sergius..flies a much higher pitch.
†c. The height to which anything rises; altitude, elevation. Obs.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 31 That infernall Monster..Gan high advaunce his broad discoloured brest Above his wonted pitch. 1647Trapp Comm. 2 Tim. iv. 10 Blazing comets..when they begin to decline from their pitch, they fall to the earth. 1664Power Exp. Philos. ii. 90 The Quicksilver will fall down to its wonted pitch and stint of 29 inches or thereabouts. 1774G. White Selborne 14 Feb., A very wet autumn and winter, so as to raise the springs to a pitch beyond anything since 1764.
19. fig. (from 15 or 18). Highest or supreme point or degree; acme, climax, greatest height. Now rare exc. in at the pitch of one's voice. (Cf. 22, 23.)
1624Wotton Archit. Pref. in Reliq. (1651) 195 Vitruvius..wrote when the Roman Empire was neer the pitch. 1723Pres. St. Russia II. 184 Mankind would have been brought to the Pitch of Wickedness. 1742Pope Dunc., M. Scriblerus, Forty..the very acme and pitch of life for writing Epic poesy. 1848Newman Loss & Gain iii. x. 382 A little boy..and a poor woman, singing at the pitch of their voices. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxiii, When the general hilarity was at its pitch.
†20. Height (of a person or animal), stature. Obs.
1575Gascoigne Compl. Gr. Knt. Wks., Weedes 183 The mounture so well made, and for my pitch so fit. 1631Heywood Fair Maid of West iii. i. Wks. 1874 II. 295 Much of my stature? Much about your pitch. 1681Hickeringill Black Non-Conf. xv. Wks. 1716 II. 112 Just of his Size, Complexion and Pitch. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 170 Makes the work fall too low for the pitch of the Workman. 1807T. Bewick Hist. Quadrupeds 63 All those of each kind that exceed or fall short of this pitch, are more or less disproportioned.
21. Height of an arched roof, or of any roof or ceiling, above the floor, or of the vertex of an arch above the springing line.
1615G. Sandys Trav. 161 The roofe of the Temple is of a high pitch, curiously arched, and supported with great pillars of marble. 1703T. N. City & C. Purchaser 64, 9 Foot betwixt the Floors..is the Pitch of their Rooms. 1772Hutton Bridges 59 A semicircle whose height or pitch is 45 feet, and consequently its span 90 feet. Ibid. 99 Pitch, of an arch, the perpendicular height from the spring or impost to the keystone. 1842–76Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Pitch of an Arch, the versed sine, or height from the springing line up to the under-side of it.
V. Height in a figurative sense, degree.
22. a. Comparative height or intensity of any quality or attribute; point or position on an ideal scale; degree, elevation, stage, status, level. Almost always used of a high or intense degree: cf. 19, 15.
a1568R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 87 The Latin tong, euen whan it was, as the Grecians say, in ακµη, that is, at the hiest pitch of all perfitenesse. 1607T. Walkington Opt. Glass xiii. (1664) 139 That they may come to the pitch of old age. 1608D. T[uvil] Ess. Pol. & Mor. 33 Raysing the valour of every..person amongst them, to a farre higher pitch. 1671Milton Samson 169 To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fall'n. 1684Contempl. St. Man ii. ix. (1699) 232 Let him be raised to the highest pitch of Honour. 1728Veneer Sincere Penitent Pref. 6 Till they arrive at such a pitch, as they cannot think of without horror and astonishment. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 107 To what a pitch did the Athenians carry their eloquence! 1822Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. iv. (1869) 82 The feelings are wound up to a pitch of agony. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 245 The family which in two generations has risen from obscurity to the highest pitch of greatness.
b. spec. in Copper-smelting: see quots.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 323 To render the metal malleable, or, in the language of the smelters, bring it to the proper pitch. 1868Joynson Metals 99 The copper is tested, as above described, from time to time, and, according to its pitch or grain. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 393 If the pitch is right the globules will all be round and hollow.
23. a. That quality of a musical sound which depends on the comparative rapidity of the vibrations producing it; degree of acuteness or graveness of tone. (Sometimes also in reference to the tone of the voice in speaking.) Also, a particular standard of pitch for voices and instruments, as concert pitch, etc.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 166 Take an instrument, as a Lute Orpharion, Pandora, or such like, being in the naturall pitch, and set it a note or two lower. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. i. (Arb.) 64 A playne song..Whose highest pitch in lowest base doth end. 1694Holder Harmony (1731) 152 What it is that makes Humane Voices, even of the same Pitch, so much to differ one from another. 1776Burney Hist. Mus. (1789) I. i. 11 All the notes in the horizontal range of the several diagrams are at the same pitch. 1831Brewster Nat. Magic ix. (1833) 229 To depend..on the pitch or frequency of vibration constituting the note. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. i. 9 Screaming out..in every conceivable key and pitch of shrillness. 1869Athenæum 23 Jan. 136/1 The note c, on the third space of the treble clef, corresponds to a number of double vibrations per second, varying from about 500 to 550, according to the pitch adopted.
b. transf. Applied to the degree of rapidity of vibration in light, etc., as being analogous to musical pitch.
1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. iii. 79 As we advance along the spectrum..the pitch of the light..heightens. 1902Daily Record & Mail 25 Dec. 5 One receiving instrument will only take messages sent by another instrument ‘tuned’ to the same pitch, that is sending vibrations of a given length and frequency.
VI. Inclination, slope, declivity.
24. Degree of inclination to the horizon, slope; a sloping part or place. spec.
a. A downward inclination or slope (on a piece of ground or water); a steep place, declivity; a descent, usually sloping, sometimes perpendicular. Freq. in Mountaineering (see quot. 1971).
[c1420app. implied in pitchlongs. Cf. also pitch v. 20.]
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 135 Rockes of a down right pitche, or a steepe down falle. 1542–5Elyot Dict., Cliuus, seu cliuum, the pitche of an hyll, sometyme the syde of an hyll. 1601Holland Pliny I. 78 The mountaine Hæmus..had in the pitch thereof the towne Aristaeum. 1788M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 402 The road from Jennison's to this house is mostly good, some few sharp pitches. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 480 The whole descent is about 200 feet, in several pitches. 1807P. Gass Jrnl. 100 Captain Lewis had been up the falls 15 miles above the first shoot or pitch. 1898Westm. Gaz. 30 Mar. 3/2 The great gully that runs up the centre of the Wastwater Screes. This gully was attempted in 1895 by three climbers, who conquered eight ‘pitches’, but were defeated by the ninth. 1904J. N. Collie in Alpine Jrnl. XXII. 10 [The ridge] was impossible, being made up entirely of bare slabs and perpendicular pitches. 1935D. Pilley Climbing Days i. 5 Each pitch or passage of the climb seemed as important as the Battle of Waterloo. 1943E. Shipton Upon that Mountain iv. 78 Nothing provides such a strong incentive to struggle on up at all costs as the memory of a really severe pitch below. 1954[see abseil]. 1956C. Evans On Climbing iii. 47 The leader climbs each pitch first, anchors himself to the rock, and takes in the rope as the second climbs to join him. 1971C. Bonington Annapurna South Face 323 Pitch, section of climbing between two stances or belay points. These might be of any length, depending on the length of the climbing-rope... Pitches were often as long as 200 feet. 1972D. Haston In High Places i. 8 When the pair [of rock-climbers] have run out one length of the rope between two stances a ‘pitch’ has been established.
b. Mining and Geol. The inclination of a vein of ore or seam of coal from the horizontal; the dip or rise. Now distinguished from the dip of a plane (e.g. a stratum) and applied to the inclination of a linear feature, being the angle it makes with a horizontal line in the plane containing it, i.e. (in the case of an ore shoot) with the strike; formerly also = plunge n. 7, esp. when applied to folds.
1719Strachey in Phil. Trans. XXX. 969 The Obliquity or Pitch, as they term it, in all the Works hereabout, is about 22 Inches in a Fathom. 1822Conybeare & Phillips Outl. Geol. Eng. & Wales p. iii, The angle of inclination between these planes and that of the horizon, is called their dip, or pitch. 1868G. H. Cook Geol. New Jersey 55 Pitch.—This term has come into use among those engaged in iron mining, to express the characteristic descent of the iron ore beds beneath the surface, towards the northeast. It is at right angles to the dip, and is in the same direction with the strike, though not horizontal. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Pitch, dip or rise of a seam. 1906Lindgren & Ransome in Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Survey No. 54. 205 If we assume that the shoot has an elongated, narrow shape, as usually is the case when projected on the plain of the vein, its geometrical relations may be designated as follows: Width or thickness, breadth, stope length, pitch length, and pitch... The pitch length..is the distance between the two extreme ends of the shoot; the pitch is the angle which the pitch length makes with the horizontal. 1907H. Louis in Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers XXXIV. 236 In America the term ‘pitch’ has occasionally been applied to this obliquity of the axis of the ore-shoot.., and the writer wishes to propose that this word be definitely restricted in the literature of ore-deposits to this particular signification... It will be understood that the angle is the angle to the horizontal, and the direction is always the azimuth of the horizontal trace of the vertical plane in which the line..of pitch lies. 1908Ibid. XXXV. 73 Mr. H. W. G. Halbaum (Birtley) said that..most men used ‘pitch’ and ‘dip’ as interchangeable terms. Ibid. 75 Mr. E. R. Field (Victoria, Australia) said that in the Bendigo district of Victoria the word ‘pitch’ was universally used to show the dip of the ore-bodies in the direction of the strike of the lode. 1909Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers XXXIX. 899 Our mine-surveyors recognize, but do not employ, the old usage of ‘dip’ and ‘pitch’ interchangeably. Ibid. 900 According to my view of American practice, the direction of the pitch is usually stated in terms of the strike. 1909Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. LXV. 473 The rocks are thrown into a series of anticlines and synclines, with a fairly-steady pitch of 12° to 15° in a southerly directon. 1913, etc. [see plunge n. 7]. 1936E. B. Mayo in C. M. Nevin Princ. Struct. Geol. (ed. 2) vii. 195 (caption) Orientation of minerals and inclusions in an intrusive rock... Measurements recorded in field mapping include dip and strike of flow layers, or planar parallelism; pitch and strike of flow lines, or linear parallelism. 1942M. P. Billings Struct. Geol. viii. 135 The pitch is the angle that a line in a plane makes with a horizontal line in that plane. 1962Read & Watson Introd. Geol. I. viii. 449 The fold-axis may be horizontal, like the top of a railway tunnel, or it may be inclined, in which case the axis and the fold are said to plunge or to pitch. The plunge is measured in degrees from the horizontal in a vertical plane.., while the pitch is given by the angle between the fold-axis and the strike of the axial plane, measured in the axial plane. 1972J. G. Dennis Struct. Geol. iii. 52 The pitch of a line within the given plane is defined as the angle between that line and any horizontal line in the plane; that is, it is measured within the plane.
c. Arch. The inclination of a sloping roof, or of the rafters, to the horizontal; the steepness of slope of a roof; the proportion of the height of a roof to its span.
1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 141 The Reasons for several Pitches you may find among Books of Architecture. Ibid. 163 The Angle a Gable-end is set to, is called the Pitch of the Gable-end. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II. s.v., If the Length of each Rafter be 3/4 of the Breadth of the Building, then they say that the Roof is of a True Pitch: But if the Rafters are longer, they say 'tis a high or sharp pitch'd Roof; if shorter, they call it a low or flat pitch'd Roof. 1828Hutton Course Math. II. 87 When the roof is of a true pitch, that is, forming a right angle at top; then the breadth of the building, with its half added, is the girt over both sides nearly. 1803D. G. Mitchell My Farm Edgewood 85 Walls..of the uniform height of ten feet, covered with a roof of sharp pitch. a1878Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 254 All previous styles of architecture..in Southern countries, had roofs of a low pitch.
d. The slope of a flight of steps; concr. a flight of steps.
1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 147 You will first ascend upon a Pitch of Flyers, which Pitch (making an Angle of 38 deg. with the Floor) with ten Steps raise you six Foot high above the Floor. 1842–76Gwilt Archit. §2026 The framed timbers which support the steps of a staircase are called the carriage. They generally consist of two pieces inclined to the pitch of the stairs, called the rough strings.
e. The setting of a ploughshare to enable it to penetrate a required depth.
f. The rake or inclination of the teeth of a saw.
g. The inclination of the bit of a plane to the surface that is being planed.
1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 50 A great matter..in the making of Ploughs, is to make them go true to the pitch they are set. 1787W. Marshall Norfolk 48 Plowing the full depth of the soil is called ‘taking it up a full pitch’. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., The pitch of a saw is the rake or inclination of the face of a tooth... The rake is a forward slant of the face, not common, but found in some saws... The common pitch of a bench-plane is 45°... Pitch of scraping and metal planes 80° to vertical. 1875Carpentry & Join. 23 A jack plane with its double iron..lying in its bed, the latter being at an angle of 45 deg. to the sole. This is the angle called common pitch.
VII. 25. Chiefly Mech. The fixed distance between successive points or lines (? the distance at which these are pitched or fixed). a. The distance between the centres of any two successive teeth of a cog-wheel or pinion, or links of a gear-chain, measured along the pitch-line or pitch-circle (see 26); the distance between the successive paddles of a paddle-wheel, measured on the circle passing through their centres; also in other contexts. b. The distance between the successive convolutions of the thread of a screw, measured in a direction parallel to the axis, and indicating the distance through which the screw moves forward in one turn; also transf. c. The distance between the centres of successive rivets or stays. d. In floor-cloth printing, The distance between the pitch-pins or guide-pins, used for the same purpose as the register-points in lithographic printing.
1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 362 If the teeth of one be wood and the other iron, then the iron ones are made to have less pitch than the wooden ones, because they are then found to wear better. 1823R. Buchanan Millwork (ed. 2) 30 By the pitch is understood the distance between the centres of two contiguous teeth. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 432 The pitch of their teeth should be the same as that of the teeth of the cylinder. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xvii. 335 The question of the proper pitch of rivets, i.e. their distance apart from centre to centre, requires some consideration. 1870Eng. Mechanic 14 Jan. 437/2 Find the pitch of the screw required to be cut..and multiply the numerators. 1874Thearle Naval Archit. 130 The spacing or pitch of rivets required by Lloyd's rules is ‘four and a half diameters apart, from centre to centre, excepting in the keel, stem, and stern post’. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1719/2 The pitch of the paddles is the distance between them, measured on the circle which passes through their centers. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. i. 64 The length..in a spur wheel including a tooth and a space is called the pitch, and the circle on which such distances are set off is called the pitch circle. Ibid. ii. 66/2 The pitch of rifling of the Enfield is one turn in six feet six inches. 1890Clacton News 25 Jan. 2/3 Most makers of implements now use only standard pitches of screws, so that any broken screw or missing nut can quickly be replaced. 1898Cycling 43 The distance between the central points of two similar links,..is called the pitch of the chain: it is nearly always one inch. 1953Nature 25 Apr. 739/2 If there are ten phosphate groups arranged on each helix of diameter 20 A. and pitch 34 A., the phosphate ester backbone chain is in an almost fully extended state. 1956Jrnl. Chem. Physics XXV. 570 It is..possible that helical chain configurations of different pitch can be obtained under different conditions. 1964S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes i. 6 The pitch (1/spacing) varies with the length of the file, e.g. the pitch of a 12 inch second-cut file is not the same as the pitch of a 6 inch second cut file. 1971Physics Bull. Nov. 677/2 The gratings are either flat or concave... The ‘pitch’ is 295 grooves/mm,..and finer spacings are expected to become available.
e. A measure of the angle of the blades of a screw propeller, equal to the distance forward a blade would move in one revolution if it sliced the air so as not to exert thrust on it; (i.e. the pitch (sense 25 b) of the spiral that would then be traced by a point on the blade).
1863P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 264 The pitch of the screw could be altered from the deck to suit the velocity of the vessel. 1867N. P. Burgh Mod. Marine Engin. vi. 323/2 The principal dimensions of the propeller under notice, are: the screw is 18 feet in diameter, maximum pitch 26 feet..and the minimum pitch 20 feet. 1902F. Walker Aërial Navigation v. 54 The pitch of screws varies as the ratio of the area of the disc or circle described by the tips to the area of the air⁓ship affording resistance to the air through which it passes. 1919H. Shaw Textbk. Aeronaut. xi. 144 If there were no slip the propeller would move forward a distance equal to the theoretical pitch during each revolution, and..no air would be driven backward by the propeller, and there would be no thrust. 1944‘N. Shute’ Pastoral i. 1 He heard, passing away above his head, the high scream of an ungeared engine in fine pitch. 1957Encycl. Brit. XX. 535/2 In controllable-pitch propellers..the blades are pivoted in the propeller hub so that the pitch of the blades can be controlled from within the ship. 1958Times Rev. Industry Aug. 39/2 The Rotodyne takes off vertically and climbs away as a helicopter, steering in the required direction being achieved by altering differentially the pitch of the airscrews. 1960R. A. Fry Princ. & Construction of Aircraft Gas Turbines v. 178 The pitch required for take-off and climb is finer than the pitch most suitable for cruising. 1971P. J. McMahon Aircraft Propulsion viii. 246 The propeller cannot go into low pitch in flight; mechanical and hydraulic pitch locks are provided.
VIII. 26. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 11) pitch-holder; (sense 23) pitch-change, pitch-movement, pitch-pattern, pitch-range, pitch-scheme; pitch accent Phonetics, (a) a prominence given to a word or syllable by the difference in pitch from its immediate surroundings; (b) occas. = tone n. 6 a; hence pitch-accented a., having a pitch-accent; pitch angle Aeronaut., the acute angle between the plane of rotation of a propeller and a straight line from one edge of a blade to the other in a direction tangential to its radius; pitch axis Aeronaut. = pitching axis s.v. pitching vbl. n.1 12; pitch-block, a block for supporting an object to be worked at, which can be inclined at any pitch or angle; usually one with a base working like a ball and socket-joint; pitch-chain, a chain consisting of links bolted or riveted together so as to work in the teeth of a toothed wheel; pitch-circle, a circular pitch-line (see below); pitch contour Phonetics, the pattern of continuous variation in pitch; pitch control Aeronaut. (equipment for) control of the pitch of an aircraft's propellers or rotors; also, control of the pitching motion of an aircraft; pitch curve Phonetics = pitch contour; pitch-diameter, the diameter of the pitch-circle of a wheel, etc.; pitch-faced a., of masonry, having the arris cut true, but the face beyond the edge left relatively rough, being merely dressed with a pitching chisel (Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 1884); † pitch-hill a., declivitous, precipitous; pitch length Geol., the length of an ore shoot in the direction of greatest dimension; pitch-line, the imaginary line, usually a circle, passing through the teeth of a cog wheel, pinion, rack, etc. so as to touch the corresponding line in another cog-wheel, etc., when the two are geared together; pitch-meter, ˈpitchmeter, (a) a device in an aeroplane for detecting or measuring pitching; (b) an instrument for measuring the pitch of sound; pitch-notation, notation indicating musical pitch; pitch-note, a note sounded to determine the pitch of a tune, etc. (also fig.); pitch phoneme Linguistics, one of the four recognized levels of pitch, esp. a variation in pitch from one syllable to another which affects meaning; pitch-point, the point of contact of the pitch-lines of two cog-wheels, etc. which engage with each other; † pitch-set, a shoot (of willow, etc.) cut for planting; cf. sense 7 and pitcher2 4; pitch-surface, the surface on which the pitch-circle of a wheel lies; pitch-wheel, a toothed wheel engaging with another. See also pitchfork2, etc.
1880A. H. Sayce Introd. Sci. of Lang. II. vii. 109 The *pitch-accent has been changed into a stress-accent. 1933C. D. Buck Compar. Gram. Greek & Latin 161 Under accent one understands variations of either intensity or intonation, and speaks of a stress accent or a pitch accent according as one or the other element is the more conspicuous. 1945Word I. 87, I consider especially important the remark that many languages seem to pass..from a tone- or pitch-accent to stress. 1958D. Bolinger in Word XIV. 149 To avoid unwarranted associations, it is better to speak of pitch accent and to leave the term stress to the domain of word stress. 1972R. S. Jackendoff Semantic Interpretation in Generative Gram. vi. 259 We will give an account of the semantics of pitch accents that makes their interaction with negation part of a more general process.
1975Language LI. 201 He does not distinguish between ‘normal’ and *pitch-accented intonation contours. 1977Archivum Linguisticum VIII. 90 Elsewhere, a (probably light) stress fell on the pitch-accented syllable (Lithuanian, Common Slavic).
1902F. Walker Aërial Navigation v. 54 The value of θ..which gives the maximum efficiency is the same whatever be the actual *pitch angle. 1935C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 140/1 The sections of the blade near the tip will move on a helix of much greater diameter..than those near the boss. For this reason they are set at a less ‘pitch angle’.., so that every part of the airscrew will try to move the same distance forward during one revolution. 1971P. J. McMahon Aircraft Propulsion viii. 246 The pilot's control lever selects propeller pitch angle directly.
1959F. D. Adams Aeronaut. Dict. 126/1 *Pitch axis, a lateral axis through an aircraft, missile, or similar body, about which the body pitches. It may be a body, wind, or stability axis. Also called a ‘pitching axis’. 1962F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics ix. 368 Any vehicle motion will take place about three axes... These axes are the yaw axis, the pitch axis, and the roll axis.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Pitch-block, a cushioned seat of a concave hemispherical form, in which sheet-metal is held while being chased.
1844Stephens Bk. Farm II. 304 *Pitch-chains are of two kinds, the buckle-chain and the ladder-chain. Ibid. 537 The pitch-chain is employed to communicate motion from the first mover—the carriage axle—to the seed-wheels.
1958R. Kingdon Groundwork Eng. Intonation p. xxiii, Tone, a stress considered from the point of view of the pitch or *pitch-change associated with it. 1964J. C. Catford in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 28 There are many detailed studies of certain aspects of voice: e.g. of..the mechanism of pitch-change. 1966J. Derrick Teaching Eng. to Immigrants iii. 114 Regular patterns of pitch-change at the heavily stressed syllables in an utterance make up the intonation of English.
1819Rees Cycl. XXIII. 3 Z iv b/1 A circle..is described round the face of the rough cogs upon its pitch diameter, that is, the geometrical diameter, or acting line of the cogs; so that when the two wheels are at work together, the *pitch circles..of the two are in contact. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 198 The pitch circles of a wheel and pinion working together should touch but not intersect each other.
1959E. Pulgram Introd. Spectrogr. of Speech xviii. 136 But one may invariably omit the registration of glottal pitch..because..the stylus-drawn *pitch contour is unlikely to present faithfully the real pitch contour in the lower frequencies. 1961Amer. Speech XXXVI. 223 Pitch contours applied by synthesis to recordings of natural speech.
1940E. Molloy Aeroplane Maintenance & Operation XV. 87 When the pilot wishes to change the pitch attitude of the aircraft, he makes an alteration to the spring torque by means of the Bowden cable from the *pitch-control lever in his cockpit. 1944W. C. Nelson Airplane Propeller Princ. iv. 89 Various types of automatic pitch control requiring no attention from the pilot have been devised. 1955Liptrot & Woods Rotorcraft vii. 64 The collective-pitch control and the throttle are normally interconnected through a..cam device. 1958Lambermont & Pirie Helicopters & Autogyros of World 112 A rotor hydraulically operated for both cyclic and collective pitch controls. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia I. 373/1 Pitch control is obtained by means of movable flaps (elevators) hinged to the trailing edge of the stabilizer.
1902E. W. Scripture Elem. Exper. Phonetics xxxii. 478 The course of pitch is greatly influenced by the neighboring consonants; the more emphatic the consonant, the greater is its influence on the *pitch-curve; the following consonant often cuts the vowel off at or near the maximum. 1969Eng. Stud. L. 327 Of all the recorded sentences..there were taken one duplex oscillogram..one pitch curve, and two intensity curves. This was done by inserting a pitch meter..and an intensity meter between the tape recorder and the registering apparatus.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 252 By reason of..the headlong and *pitchehill stepenes to looke downewardes.
1909Daily Chron. 18 Nov. 4/7 One ‘pitch’ which was the envy of every *pitchholder in London was for many years at the end of Burlington House.
1906*Pitch length [see pitch n.2 24 b]. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. viii. 107/1 The bonanzas have generally a pitch-length exceeding the level-length.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 769/1 Draw the *pitch lines..then divide them into the number of teeth or cogs required. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 362 The centre or pitch-lines, from which the teeth are formed.
1947Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LI. 166/1 A gust can be detected by a *pitch-meter which produces a differential pressure on a diaphragm with change of vertical component of wind. 1969Word 1967 XXIII. 255 An instrument used for measuring the frequency of the fundamental is commonly (and erroneously) called a pitchmeter. 1976Times 19 Aug. 12/6 Another new development is the electronic pitchmeter... A needle shows whether a note is sharp or flat of the required pitch, so that a piano could be successfully tuned in the middle of a factory floor if necessary.
1959D. Cooke Lang. Mus. ii. 109 Monteverdi and others, began to introduce more and more liberty of *pitch-movement to express the rhetoric of human passion. 1964Crystal & Quirk Syst. Prosodic & Paralinguistic Features in Eng. 75 It is hoped to follow up these initial experiments by a more detailed study of the spectrographic shape of pitch-movement. 1973Archivum Linguisticum IV. 19 For them [sc. Crystal and Quirk] a tone is subordinate to another if it has the same pitch movement.
1881Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 373 On a full consideration of the question of *pitch-notation.
1795Mason Ch. Mus. i. 8 Before the opening of the Overture, it gives that *pitch note in full, which always leads me to expect a succession of more solemn sounds than in reality succeed it.
1954F. G. Cassidy Robertson's Devel. Mod. Eng. (ed. 2) xii. 381 There is a great deal less variation in the *pitch-patterns of Middle-Western American than of British speech. 1961Amer. Speech XXXVI. 215 An experimental pitch indicator for training deaf scholars... Deaf child is enabled to compare his own pitch pattern with that of his teacher.
1931L. Bloomfield in Language VII. 206 The modern languages of Europe similarly use certain *pitch-phonemes at the end of largest-forms: our falling pitch at the end of statements and our rising pitches for the two kinds of questions. 1933― Language xi. 171 In English, supplement-questions are distinguished not only by their special pitch-phoneme [¿], but also by a selective taxeme. 1973Archivum Linguisticum IV. 17 In the field of English intonation studies, bones of contention..spring readily to mind:..pitch phonemes versus tones.
1859Rankine Steam Engine §153. 181 The position of the pinion should be such, that the *pitch-point, where its teeth are driven by those of the cogged ring, may be in the same vertical plane parallel to the axis.
1959D. Cooke Lang. Mus. ii. 110 The ‘normal’ *pitch-range of music is an overall spread from just above the treble clef to just below the bass clef. 1964Crystal & Quirk Syst. Prosodic & Paralinguistic Features in Eng. iv. 62 So too it seems likely that tonal subordination will come to be linked with the stress and pitch-range systems. 1973Archivum Linguisticum IV. 25 Such features as overall pitch range, pitch register, and even voice quality..may perhaps best be regarded as characteristics..of larger units.
1933L. Bloomfield Language v. 77 The fact that two utterances of the syllable man with different *pitch-schemes are ‘the same’ speech-form in English, but ‘different’ speech-forms in Chinese, shows us that the working of language depends upon our habitually..discriminating some features of sound and ignoring all others.
1519W. Horman Vulg. 172 A *pychesette of wythy groweth anon.
1887D. A. Low Machine Draw. (1892) 40 A section of the *pitch surface of a toothed wheel by a plane perpendicular to its axis is a circle, and is called a pitch circle.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Pitch-wheels, toothed wheels in machinery or clocks, which work together.
Add:[VII.] [25.] f. Typewriting and Computing. The density of characters on a line, usu. expressed as the number of characters per inch.
1932Crooks & Dawson Etheridge's Dict. Typewriting (ed. 3) 225 In an inch of space it is possible to insert varying numbers of letters in a particular type, as Elite (twelve to the inch) or Elite (ten to the inch). This spacing is referred to as the ‘pitch’ of the type. 1954B. Bliven Wonderful Writing Machine xii. 209 The correct term for size, in typewriter language, is ‘pitch’, a measure of letter-space width and a sloppy word because it doesn't tell, definitely, how tall the letters are. c1961Imperial Type Faces (Imperial Typewriter Co.), Elite type..is slightly smaller in size... Its normal ‘pitch’ is twelve letters per inch. 1974W. A. Beeching Century of Typewriter ii. 78 Before World War II, most typewriters were equipped with the normal and familiar Pica typewriter type with ten spaces to the inch. The number of spaces to the inch is known as ‘the pitch’. 1987Graphics World Nov./Dec. 73 A sheet printed with calibrations in 15-pitch, 12-pitch and 10-pitch measures to speed up character counting of manuscripts.
▪ III. pitch, v.1|pɪtʃ|
Forms: 3–4 piche, 4–5 picche, pycche, 5–6 pytch(e, (5 pydche), 6– pitch, (7 peche). pa. tense and pple., pitched, pight: see below.
[ME. piche(n, picche(n, north. pykke(n, pikke (see pick v.2); pa. tense pihte, piȝte, pight(e, pa. pple. piht, piȝt, pight; also later picched, pitched, pitcht, etc. (Cf. clihte, stihte, early pa. tenses of clitch, stitch.) Of obscure origin and history. The forms point to an OE. *picc(e)an, of the 1st weak class pa. tense *pihte, of which however no instance has been found; nor does any vb. corresponding in form and sense appear in the cognate languages. See Note below.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
1. For the present stem, see the quots. in B., and those given under pick v.2
2. Past tense. (α) 3 pihte, 3–4 piȝte, 3–5 pyȝte, 4–5 piȝt, pyȝt, pighte, pyghte, (5 piht), 4–6 pyght, (pyth), 4–7 pight |paɪt|. (β) 4 picched, 4–6 picht, 5 pytched, 6 pyched, 7 pitcht, 6– pitched.
αc1205Lay. 29653 Þer he pihte his stæf. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1171 Stakes of ire monion he piȝte in temese grounde. c1320Piȝt [see B. 2]. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4644 Þey..pyght þeym pauylons & tente. Ibid. 15246 He pighte his staf þer doun vpright. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 741 He pyȝt hit þere in token of pes. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1831 He pighte [v.rr. pyghte, pight, piht] hym on the pomel of his heed. c1400Melayne 800 And pyghte Pauylyons with mekill pryde. 1436Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 152 Statly tentes anon they pyȝte. c1450Merlin ii. 150 Ther thei pight the kynges teynte. 1572J. Bossewell Armorie iii. 24 b, He..pyght hys pauilions, at the heade of a Ryuer. 1627Drayton Agincourt, etc. 97 Vnder Pomfret his proud Tents he pight.
βc1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4645 Þey picched þer pauylons. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 1139 ad fin., How alixandre picht a pelyr of marbyl þere. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvii 399 He toke a torche and fyred it, and pytched it bytwene the strawe and the bedsted. 1530Pyched [see B. 6]. 1535Pitched [see B. 4 c]. 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. 74 Theare picht he his kingdoom.
3. Past participle. (α) 3–4 ipiht, ipiȝt, 4 ipyȝt, ypiȝte, i-peȝt, 4–6 i-pight, 5 ypyght, 6 ypight. (β) 4 piht, (pite); 4–5 piȝt, pyȝt, (5 piȝte, pyȝte, pyghte), 5–6 (pighte), pyght, Sc. picht, pycht, 6 pyht, 4–7 (9 arch.) pight |paɪt|. (γ) 4 piched, pyched, i-picht, 4–5 picched, -id, 6 pytched, 6–8 pitcht 6– pitched.
α1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1116 Þe emperour adde ipiȝt [v.rr. c 1425 piȝt, c 1435ypyght] his pauilons. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 243 A spere i-pyȝt [hasta defixa]. Ibid. III. 273 Þe pavylouns were i-peȝt. Ibid. VII. 75 Þe stake was i-pight. a1400Pistill of Susan 108 Þe pyon, þe peere, wel proudliche ipiht. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxv. 148 Wyth two staues ypyght atte eyther ende. 1522World & Child in Hazl. Dodsley I. 243, I have also palaces i-pight. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 33 For underneath a craggy cliff ypight.
βc1350Will. Palerne 1627 Þer were piȝt pauilounns. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 785 In a porche of þat place pyȝt to þe ȝates. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 43 In middes on a Mountayne..Was piht vp a Pauilon. c1400Mandeville (1839) xvii. 183 A spere that is pight in to the erthe. c1420Anturs of Arth. xxxvii, In myd Plumtun Lone, hor paueluns were piȝte. c1430Piȝt, 14.. Pyȝt [see B. 5 c]. a1470Pyght [see B. 11]. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 313 Ane pailyeoun..that proudly wes picht. 1513Pycht [see B. 5]. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 44 She had pyght a ryche pauylyon. 1575Laneham Let. (1871) 55 His honors Tent, that..was pighte at long Ichington. 1578Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 203 A prince..picht to rule and reigne. 1579,1617Pight [see B. 5]. 1720Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) I. i. xxix. 301/2 In the Castle-yard was pight a comely Quintane. 1864Skeat Uhland's Poems 292 On a rising hillock pight.
γ13..Piched [see B. 1]. 13..Pyched [see B. 5]. 1340–70I-picht [see B. 5]. c1380Picchid [see B. 10]. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iv. 667 Let hem be pressed, picchid, and ywrie. 1545Leland in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. cxviii. 330 Yet herein only I have not pytched the supreme work of my labour. 1564–78W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 60 When the battaile was pitched. c1611Chapman Iliad xv. 654 Close the deadly toil Was pitch'd on both parts. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 41 Tents..pitcht neere the water side. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 167 Any Substance..pitcht steddy upon two points.
B. Signification.
I. To thrust in, fix in; make fast, fasten, settle; set, place.
†1.
a. trans. To thrust, drive (a stake, spear, staff, peg, etc.) firmly into the ground; to fix or make fast (a thing) by driving it into some object; also, to fix (an object) on a pole, spear, etc.; to plant, implant; to fix, stick, fasten. In later quots., approaching the sense ‘to place’. Obs.
c1205Lay. 6490 He igrap his spere stronge þer he pihte hit o þon londe [c 1275 þar hit was ipiht in londe]. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 274/107 Þine staf piche in þe grounde: And he schal bere lef and blowe. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1171 [see 2]. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 170 Þis neiþer chawle, in which ben piȝt many teeþ. 1382― Eccl. xii. 11 The widis of wise men..as nailes in to heiȝte piȝt [1388 as nailis fastned deepe]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. vi. (Tollem. MS.), Tweyne holow synewis..piccheþ hem selfe [1582 fixe themselues: orig. se infigunt] in þe substaunce of þe humoure cristallyn. a1620J. Dyke Worthy Commun. (1640) 180 A stake, or a post is pitched in the ground. 1633Rogers Treat. Sacram. i. Pref., A planter takes the sien of the Apple-tree, and pitches it into a Crab⁓tree Stock. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 34 The stakes [of a tent] firmely pitched. 1674–91[see pitch n.2 7]. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 172 Pitch a small Stick at every place where there is to be a little Hill. 1754J. Love Cricket 14 The Stumps are pitch'd. 1775J. Jekyll Corr. 29 Mar., The houses [are] chiefly built of the round sea-pebbles pitched in mortar.
b. to pitch the wickets (Cricket): to stick or fix the stumps in the ground and place the bails.
c1690in Alverstone & Alcock Surrey Cricket (1902) ii. 14 All you that do delight in Cricket Come to Marden Pitch your wickits. 1733in H. T. Waghorn Cricket Scores (1899) 16 The wickets are to be pitched by twelve o'clock. 1745Daily Advertiser 28 Sept. 3/1 The Wickets to be pitch'd by Eleven o'Clock. 1803Laws of Cricket 5 The Party which goes from home shall have..the pitching of the wickets, which shall be pitched within thirty yards of a centre fixed by the adversaries. 1866Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 327 The wickets had better be pitched without loss of time.
†2. transf. To thrust a pointed instrument into or through (something); to stab, stick, pierce, transfix. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1174 Stakes of ire monion he piȝte [v.rr. pyte, put, putte] in temese grounde,..Þat ȝif þer eni ssipes come..Hii ssolde piche hom þoru out. c1320Sir Tristr. 206 Bot on wiþ tresoun þere Þurch þe bodi him piȝt. c1366Chaucer A.B.C. 163 Cryste..also suffred þat longius his herte pyghte And made his herte blode to rynne downe. 1382Wyclif John xix. 37 Thei schulen se in to whom they piȝten thorw [Vulg. transfixerunt]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lxv. (Bodl. MS.), If þe skynn of þe face is ipiȝt and iprikked with an nedel oþer a pynne and bledeþ nought.
3. To place and make fast with stakes, poles, pegs, etc., as a net, or the like. Now rare.
1545Elyot, Tendere plagas, to pytche hayes or nettes. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. Epit. (1612) 391 [They] pitched their Tew to intangle the same Protector. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 572 The dext'rous Huntsman..pitches Toils to stop the Flight. 1813Scott Rokeby iii. xxxi, There's time to pitch both toil and net.
4. spec. To fix and erect (a tent, pavilion, etc.) as a place of lodgement; also fig.
Orig. referring to its being fixed with pegs, etc. driven into the ground; now associated with the idea of ‘placing’.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4254 Þe king..bigan to picche is pauilons him vor to abyde. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. xiv. 37 For to pydche and dresse vp tentes. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. x. 24 You vile abhominable Tents, Thus proudly pight [Qo. pitcht] vpon our Phrygian plaines. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 122 We were fain to encamp hard by under Carpets, which we pitched instead of Tents. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxxvii, The tents were pitched where I chose to rest. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 55 When Troops are to encamp, General Officers are not to leave their Brigades until the Tents are pitched.
b. So to pitch a camp, pitch a caravan, etc.
1568Grafton Chron. (1569) I. 411 King Henrie..came to Hounslow hethe, and there pitched his campe. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1981/1 There they pitched downe their campe. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 540 The Youth of Rome..pitch their sudden Camp before the Foe. 1860J. W. Warter Sea-board II. 127 It was necessary to remove the camp from the place where it was pitched. 1901Essex Weekly News 12 Apr. 3/6 Defendant..pitched a caravan on the grass.
c. absol. or intr. To encamp.
c1440York Myst. xiv. 4 Here in þis place wher we are pight. 1535Coverdale Josh. xi. 5 All these kinges..came, and pitched together by y⊇ water of Meram. 1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 117 To choose a commodious place to pitch in. 1800Misc. Tracts in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 284/2 The uncle of the Rajah..invited us to pitch the next day on a spot close to the palace. 1852Grote Greece ii. lxx. IX. 77 The succeeding troops, coming up in the dark, pitched as they could without any order.
5. a. trans. To put (anything) in a fixed or definite place or position, so as to stand, lie, or remain firmly or permanently; to set, fix, plant, place; to found or set up (a building, pillar, etc.). In pa. pple. = set, fixed, planted, placed, situated.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 477 Ho fyndez no folde her fote on to pyche. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 768 A castel..Pyched on a prayere, a park al aboute. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 1135 Þere his burnus he bad bulden of marbre A piler sadliche i-picht, or he passe wolde. c1410Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xix, In þe kenell shulde ben picched smale stones ywrapped aboute with strawe of þe houndes litter. 1513Douglas æneis x. iii. 44 Ane circulet of plyabyll gold..Abuf hys haris apon hys hed weil pycht. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. xi, Then pitch one foote of your compasse at the one ende of the line. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 134 And in my face deepe furrowes eld hath pight. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xvi. 249 Their mightier Empire, there, the middle English pight. 1617Collins Def. Bp. Ely ii. viii. 300 A gulfe..is pight betweene vs & them. 1688Clayton in Phil. Trans. XVII. 946 In stiff Soyls, if the Crops be not early pitch'd,..the Roots never spread or shoot deeper. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 190 The third climb'd up and pitch'd himself on his Head, upon the Head of the second. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 220 Take care that in pitching the Globe into the Mandrel, that the imaginary Axis..lye in a straight Line with the Axis of the Mandrel. 1848Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 553 Pitching the holes at equal distances from the centre of the hill. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xiii, The abrupt hill, on which the town of Bridgenorth is pitched. 1899Daily News 24 Apr. 4/5 Fireman S. ‘pitched’ his machine against the burning building, and succeeded in bringing the woman safely to the ground.
b. spec. To set a (stone, etc.) upon end; to set a stone on edge for paving.
a1623W. Pemble Zachary (1629) 159 Markes or Bound-Stones should be pitcht up. 1642J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 203 Jacob taketh one of the stones that he had laid his head upon, and pitched it up for a pillar. 1657Howell Londinop. 93 On the South side of their high street..is pitched upright a great stone, called London Stone. 1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 82 A range of Stones pitch'd edge-way.
†6. fig. To place, implant, plant, set, fix (anything immaterial, one's trust, hope, desire, purpose, thought, attention, sight, etc.) in or on some object, or in some state. (See also 5 c.) Obs.
[c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 307 Þe rote of loue þat shulde be picchid in goddis lawe. ] Ibid. 480 Oure bileue & hope is picchid in þe grace of iesu crist.1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. Introd. (Tollem. MS.), Þey [briddes] haueþ a seminal vertu of kynde pyȝte in hem. c1430Hymns Virg. 94 Þou be woo; In iolite whan þou art piȝt. 1550Crowley Last Trump. 151 Se that thy fayth be pitched On thy Lord God most constantly. 1591Lyly Endim. v. i, Pitching his eyes fast to the ground, as though they were fixed to the earth. 1600Fairfax Tasso i. xlviii, She fled..And left her image in his hart ipight. a1617Bayne On Eph. (1658) Ded., To take off the hearts..from idle Pamphlets..and pitch them on the grave..points of Religion. 1639Fuller Holy War v. xxv. (1840) 287 He pitched his thoughts on the holy war. 1688Bunyan Jerus. Sinner Saved (1886) 56 She thought He pitched His innocent eyes just upon her. 1820L. Hunt Indicator No. 43 (1822) I. 339 Lauria..pitching her mind among the enjoyments of Corinth.
7. a. To place or lay out (wares) in a fixed place for sale; hence, to expose for sale in the market or other public place.
1530in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 80 [They] did..take away x semys of see fyshe.., and pyched them in the parishe of Saynt Mary's, and ther sette it to sale. 1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices ii. (1558) 83 When the sale⁓staffe was pight and in ye market place. 1802Ann. Reg. 6 All corn should be brought into the market, and pitched, as in former times. 1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. 165 No less than 36,487 tons of meat are annually ‘pitched’ at Newgate and Leadenhall Markets. 1884Globe 26 Sept. 7/1 At Melton Mowbray cheese fair yesterday some 100 dozen cheese were pitched. 1886Auckland Even. Star 25 June 12/1 A good many hides were pitched, and bidding was spirited.
†b. pitch and pay (absol. or intr.): ? to pay down at once, pay ready money. Obs.
14..Piers of Fullham 206 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 9 Yt ys full hard bothe to pyche and paye. 1559Mirr. Mag., Warwick xiv, I vsed playnnes, euer pitch and pay. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 211 At Norwich... A citie trim: Where strangers wel may seeme to dwel, That pitch and pay, or keepe their day. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iii. 51 The word is, Pitch and pay: trust none. 1608H. Clapham Errour on Left Hand 102 But you your promise once did breake. Giue me your hand, that you will pitch and pay.
8. a. intr. (or refl.) To place or locate oneself; to take up one's abode; to take up one's position, settle, alight. Now rare or arch. (Cf. 4 c.)
1609Bible (Douay) 1 Macc. ix. 33 They fled into the desert of Thecua, and they pitched by the water of the lake Asphar. 1623Cockeram iii, Iohn de monte Regio..made a small iron Fly to..flye about all the roome, and returne and pitch on his sleeue. 1692Sir W. Hope Fencing-Master (ed. 2) 135 You must pitch your self to the same Guard with your Small-sword as you do with your Broad. 1727Philip Quarll (1816) 57 The fowl being pitched upon the bank. 1792J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 201 The first settlers pitched here, but the trade has long since been removed..about four miles further up. 1827D. Johnson Ind. Field Sports 91 An owl pitched immediately over our heads. 1900[see pitching ppl. a. 3].
b. trans. To cause to alight and settle.
1765Treat. Dom. Pigeons 106 [Certain pigeons] are exceeding good to pitch stray Pigeons that are at a loss to find their own home.
c. refl. and intr. To seat oneself, sit down, take a seat. dial. or colloq.
1796Sporting Mag. VII. 279 He..could not carry the amount..for the distance of one mile without pitching. 1844E. Jesse Scenes Country Life I. 254 The cottager's wife will ask [him] to sit down in that hearty Devonshire phrase,..‘Do'y Sir, pitch yourself’—bringing forward a chair.
9. trans. transf. (from 1 and 5). To set, plant, fill, furnish (something) with things or persons stuck or placed in or on it.
†a. gen. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 4056 A hundrith shippes..Pight full of pepull & mony prise knight. 1420Siege Rouen in Archæologia XXI. 62 A dyche was made,..They pyght hyt wyth stakes hors to perche. 1540–1Elyot Image Gov. (1549) 145 The daungerouse rase of auctoritee, pight full of perils. c1611Chapman Iliad ix. 337 [He] Cut a dike by it, pitch'd with pales, broad and of deep import. 1653Holcroft Procopius, Gothick Wars i. 24 Pitching the top with multitude of stakes.
†b. spec. To set, stud, or adorn with gems or the like. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 217 Pyȝt..Wyth whyte perle & non oþer gemme. Ibid. 241 ‘O perle’ quoth I, ‘in perlez pyȝt’. a1400Morte Arth. 212 In ever-ilk aperty pyghte with precyous stones. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxli. 273 Croune of gold pyght with ryche perle and precious stones. 1513Douglas æneis i. ix. 133 The collar picht with orient peirlis als. a1661Fuller Worthies, Northampt. ii. (1662) 298 He wore a gown of purple velvet, pight with pieces of gold.
c. To pave (a road, path, or street) with stones set on end; orig. with pebbles or cobbles; hence, also, with granite ‘randoms’, or with dressed and squared ‘setts’. Also, to form a foundation for a macadamized road with larger stones placed on edge by hand.
c1550R. Ricart's Kalendar (Camden) 57 In this yere was Redclif strete..new pight. 1641J. Trappe Theol. Theol. vi. 251 Hell (the pavement whereof was commonly said to be pitcht with shavelings skuls, and great mens crests). 1666Act 18 & 19 Chas. II, c. 8 §18 The order and manner of paving and pitching the Streets and Lanes. 1682Wood Life 31 July (O.H.S.) III. 25 In this month..was the highway..pitched with peebles and hard stone. 1717Tabor in Phil. Trans. XXX. 554 The Surface of the Clay was neatly pitch'd with small Flint and Stones, Pointed at their lower ends, and Headed at their upper ends. 1811Self Instructor 140 Paved with bricks or pitched with pebble. 1905Westm. Gaz. 25 Aug. 5/3 In addition to flagging and pitching several roads.
†10. To ‘put together’; to construct by fastening the parts together; pa. pple., compacted, knit. Obs.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 2720 Alle here schippis were redy dyght And fraught with vitayles and wel pight. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xiv. 47 All thassystents..sayde that they neuere sawe no fayrer man of armes, nor better pyght. 1611Cotgr., Compacte, compacted; well set, knit, trust, pight, or ioyned together.
II. To set in order, arrange, determine; to fix the order, position, rate, price, or pitch of.
11. trans. To set in order for fighting, to arrange (a battle, field of battle, etc.: see battle n. 11, field n. 8 b); to set in array. Obs. exc. in pitched ppl. a. (q.v., sense 2).
a1470Tiptoft Cæsar xii. (1530) 14 Cesar had ordered hys army & pyght his felde in a conuenient place. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1244 The duke of Normandy..Pight a stronge batell. a1553Udall Royster D. iv. vi. (Arb.) 70 If ye two bidde me, we will with him pitche a fielde. 1558T. Phaer æneid ii. E ij b, Polites..through foes and wepons pight, Through galeryes along doth ronne. 1590Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. iii. i, Our battle, then, in martial manner pitch'd. c1645Tullie Siege of Carlisle (1840) 37 The Enemie drew out some foot to peche against those in the ditch. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 54/2 When to wage War, and when to pitch a Field.
12. To set (one person) against another in contest or competition; to pit. rare.
1801tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. II. 48 My tutor offered to pitch me against the clerk for reading, and against a neighbouring farmer's son for casting accounts. 1889Daily News 6 Aug. 5/7 We are..weak in comparison with the great fleets against which we shall be pitched when the manœuvres commence.
†13.
a. To determine (something that is to be); to set, fix, settle, appoint, fix upon. Obs.
c1557Abp. Parker Ps. xcvi. 272 Tel ye, I say, the Gentiles all This Lord his raigne hath pight. 1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue 38 b, If they be such as..by a price pitcht they are deliuered out for. 1592Kyd Sp. Trag. ii. iii. 37 Between us theres a price already pitcht. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xlvi. (1612) 216 Pluto..and all th' infernall States Did pytch a Session, to correct Remisnes in debates. 1649Nicholas Papers (Camden) I. 166 The King now hath pitcht a new day for his repaire to Antwerp.
†b. intr. To come to a decision; to decide. Obs.
1666Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 191 Privy seals, sealed paper,..have been all more or lesse disputed,..but where we shall pitch I am not yet wise enough to tell you. 1667–8Ibid. 240 We are not yet very irresolute what way to pitch.
c. trans. Cards. In certain games (e.g. Nap), to select or determine (a particular suit) as trumps by leading a card of that suit.
1890in Cent. Dict.
†14. To fix, settle, or place in thought; to determine (an existing fact); to ascertain, or state as ascertained; to come to a conclusion about. Obs.
1610Willet Hexapla Dan. 294 Some pitch their beginning at Cyrus. 1640Bp. Hall Chr. Moder. (ed. Ward) 33/2 First they pitch their conclusion, and then hunt about for premises to make it good. a1680Charnock Attrib. God (1834) I. 24 Who can pitch a time and person that originated this notion? a1687Petty Pol. Arith. 26, I had..pitch'd the medium of Heads in all the Families of England to be 61/3.
15. a. To set at a particular pitch or degree (high, low, etc.; in various metaphorical applications: see pitch n.2 22). In mod. use mostly fig. from c: To set in a particular ‘key’ or style of expression, feeling, etc.
1633G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch lvi, Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high. a1859L. Hunt Cambus Khan Poems (1860) 167 And women came with their impetuous lords, To pitch the talk and humanize the boards. 1874Burnand My Time xvi. 142 His conversation was pitched in a minor key. 1893Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 81 Our second assumption regarding the mass of the Earth was pitched too low.
†b. To set or fix at a price or rate. Obs. rare.
1624Capt. Smith Virginia v. 199 They pitched their commodities at what rate they pleased. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieut. ii iii, What do you pitch her at?
c. Mus. To set at a particular pitch, determine the pitch of (a tune, the voice, an instrument): see pitch n.2 23.
1674Playford Skill Mus. i. xi. 54 That the Professor..so pitch his Tune, as to sing in his full and natural voice. 1744–91Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 319 Choose a person or two in each place to pitch the tune for you. 1842Tennyson E. Morris 52 ‘Parson’ said I ‘you pitch the pipe too low’. 1887C. Hazard Mem. J. L. Diman vi. 123 His voice was well pitched and resonant, easily filling large spaces.
d. to pitch it strong (and varr.): to speak forcefully; to state a case with feeling or enthusiasm; to exaggerate.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxxix. 429 I'm going to write to my father, and I must have a stimulant, or I shan't be able to pitch it strong enough into the old boy. 1841,1863[see strong adv. 1 c]. 1886R. L. Stevenson Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde 7 And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could. 1903Wodehouse Tales of St. Austin's 213 Try him, any⁓how. Pitch it fairly warm... Only cat you ever loved, and that sort of thing. 1916J. Buchan Greenmantle i. 5 My heart was beginning to thump uncomfortably. Sir Walter was not the man to pitch a case too high. 1928Galsworthy Swan Song ii. xi. 194 Pitch it strong, but no waterworks. 1969New Scientist 3 July 37/1 Dr Steven Rose..was not pitching it too high when he said that the dangers of uncontrolled technology were as great as those of nuclear warfare.
16. intr. with on or upon: To fix upon, settle upon, decide upon; to make choice of, select, choose; † rarely, to determine (= 13 or 14); in mod. use, to select more or less casually, without deliberation; to let one's choice fall upon.
1628Prynne Cens. Cozens 62, I shall onely pitch vpon these ensuing passages. 1650Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. 84 Who shall delay the accomplishment of that which is already pitch'd upon. 1674Allen Danger Enthus. 86 The way and method which God pitcht upon. a1687Petty Pol. Arith. 23, I pitch upon 88 thousand to be the number of Housing Anno 1686. 1710Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 86 The Lecturer to be pitch'd upon every 3d year by y⊇ Warden & five Seniors. 1791‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. iv. (1809) 84, I pitched upon one that I thought would suit me. 1836W. Irving Astoria I. 169 The place which he pitched upon for his trading post. 1858J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) III. iv. ix. 411 If one holy place was desecrated, the monks pitched upon another.
III. To cast or throw in particular ways.
17. a. trans. To cast, throw, or fling forward; to hurl (a javelin, spear, or bar, or a person headlong; to throw anything flat with retention of its horizontal position); to throw (a thing) underhand so that it may fall and rest on a particular spot. Also absol.
to pitch the bar: to throw a heavy bar as a form of athletic exercise or contest. to pitch (a person) over the bar: fig. (colloq.) to deprive of the status of a barrister, to disbar (cf. bar n.1 24).
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1831 His hors..leepe aside, and foundred as he leepe And er that Arcite may taken keepe He pighte hym on the pomel of his heed. c1400Destr. Troy 8258 Achilles..Grippet to a grete speire with a grym wille; Pight on the prinse, persit his wede. 1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue 41 b, The other doth pitch down hedlong both body and soule into euerlasting torments. 1592Chettle Kinde-harts Dr. G j, One..that..was not long since disgraded of his place by pitching ouer the Barre. 1600,1715[see bar n.1 2]. 1719D'Urfey Pills III. 253, I..can..Pitch-Bar, and run and wrestle too. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 612 So steep that you may pitch a biscuit from its summit into the river which washes its base. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. i. (1819) 1 In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xiii, As far as one might pitch a lance. 1836Lady Willoughby de Eresby in C. K. Sharpe's Corr. (1888) II. 495 Mrs Villiers, in galloping to cover the other day..was pitched off. 1885Spectator 25 July 971/2 He was within an ace of pitching himself headforemost into the wildest of gorges.
b. To throw (sheaves, hay, etc.) with a pitchfork; esp. on to a cart or stack in homing or inning the crop. Often absol.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 13 Canstow seruen..oþer syngen in a churche, Oþer coke for my cokers oþer to þe cart picche,..oþer make bond to sheues? 1550Crowley Epigr. 131 Or pitcheth vp the sheues from the carte to the mowe. 1610B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, O, I look'd for this. The hay is a pitching. 1763Ann. Reg. 170/1 Beddingfield..had pitched a load of wheat. 1904H. Black Pract. Self-Culture ii. 49 He [could] pitch hay with the haymakers in the pasture.
c. In Baseball or other games: To deliver or serve (the ball) to the batter; also fig. In Cricket, now superseded by to bowl: see bowl v.1 4, 5, exc. with constr. indicating the length at or off which the ball is delivered, or the direction of the delivery. In various games, to throw a flat object towards a mark, or so as to fall in or near a definite place. Also absol.
1767R. Cotton Cricket Song vii, in F. S. Ashley-Cooper Hambledon Cricket Chron. (1924) 184 Ye Bowlers take heed..; Spare your vigour at first... But measure each step, and be sure pitch your length! 1773Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 568 For honest Lumpey did allow He ne'er could pitch but o'er a brow. 1803Laws of Cricket 7 The ball, which the bowler..shall have pitched in a straight line to the wicket. 1845in Appleton's Ann. Cycl. 1855 (1886) 77/2 The ball must be pitched and not thrown to the bat. 1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field viii. 165 Then, with a much higher toss and slower pace..he pitches a little short of the usual spot. 1853F. Gale Public School Matches 54 In vain does Leftarm pitch up a whole over of half volleys in the hopes of a catch. 1868H. Chadwick Game of Base Ball 60 When he [sc. the pitcher] makes a motion to pitch and does not do so,..he makes a balk. 1890[see catch v. 24 e]. a1907Mod. The player that pitches his coin nearest to the mark has the first toss. 1929Chicagoan 17 Aug. 22/1 Diamond slang crops out in his speech..as when he [sc. Carl Sandburg] instructs his agents never to book him for two consecutive lectures. ‘I can't pitch two games in a row’, he says. 1936G. Milburn Catalogue 234 ‘Reck it'd be all right for me to go in there and dance.’.. ‘You're all right. Go right on in there and pitch.’ 1944College Topics (Univ. of Virginia) 30 Mar. 3 Hank Neighbors, who pitched two innings of college ball here last year, is the only semblance of an experienced pitcher on the squad. 1970[see force v.1 5]. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 31/1 Cuellar pitched his 21st complete game and broke a club record for season victories. 1977World of Cricket Monthly June 33/3 He charged down the pitch to a leg⁓break which the bowler pitched wide.
d. slang. To utter, tell. Cf. pitch n.2 5 b. to pitch (the) woo (orig. and chiefly U.S.): to court, to make love to; transf., to flatter lavishly.
1867London Herald 23 Mar. 222/2 (Farmer), If he had had the sense to..pitch them a tale, he might have got off. 1878Wright Mental Trav. 14 They suspected from his pitching such stories, he must surely be a rogue and vagabond. 1935Ladies' Home Jrnl. Feb. 60/3 After a while Uncle Ned came back looking positively exalted, so I guessed he and May had been pitching some more woo. 1937Clarionette (Univ. of Denver) 18 Mar. 1/3 As long as there are students and universities and sofas and automobiles and nice laws, scholars will do their time-honoured share of ‘pitchin' the woo’. 1943Sat. Even. Post 25 Sept. 12/1 Louie..pitches kitchen gadgets. 1943[see pitch n.2 11 a]. 1943Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 51 Pitch a woo, to start a courtship. 1972Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 26/2 Like any good salesman, he knows that once he demonstrates that the basic program he is pitching really does some good, all the ancillary merchandising will take care of itself. 1973Internat. Herald Tribune 15 June 5/5 He's still a master at pitching the woo—on the mound, in the pressroom or elsewhere.
18. a. intr. for pass. To fall headlong heavily, to land on one's head, or strike forcibly against something, by being thrown.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 673 Þo he was iflowe an hei, & ne cowþe not aliȝte; Adoun mid so gret eir to þen erþe he vel & piȝte, Þat al to peces he to rod [MS. B. rof]. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1456 Schalkez..Haled to hym of her arewez, hitten hym oft; Bot þe poyntez payred at þe pyth þat pyȝt in his scheldez. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. viii. 8 In his fall misfortune him mistooke; For on his head unhappily he pight. 1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 703 Forward he flew, and pitching on his head, He quiver'd with his feet, and lay for dead. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 480 A large pine has been seen..to pitch over endwise. 1857–8Sears Athan. iv. 30 Columbus had to argue..that, when he came upon this side of the world he would not be in danger of pitching off into nowhere.
b. Cricket. Of a delivery: to land (usu. at or off a specified length, or in or off a specified direction).
1816W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 32 If a Ball should pitch short of its proper length on the off side, and should twist toward the top of the wicket, the Striker must be very careful in playing back that he does not hit his own wicket. 1947N. Cardus Autobiogr. i. 79, I was certain the ball had pitched off the wicket. 1970R. Bowen Cricket v. 76 When the ball pitches, the forward motion is hindered by its friction with the ground; the circular motion is stopped abruptly (or nearly so) and this cessation must yield..further force in the direction the ball is moving. 1977Times 17 Jan. 7/1 Patel received the perfect ball from Underwood which pitched on his middle stump and hit the off.
19.
†a. trans. Of a ship: To plunge (her head) downwards into the water, instead of rising with the wave. Obs. [Has affinities with IV.]
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 4 If she haue not a full Bow, it will make her pitch her head much into the Sea. Ibid. 10.
b. intr. Of a ship: To plunge with the head into the trough of the sea; hence (as this is followed by the head rising or ‘scending’ on the crest of a wave), to rise and fall alternately at bow and stern; to plunge in a longitudinal direction (as distinguished from rolling).
a1687Petty Treat. Naval Philos. i. iii, What makes her pitch and scend too much. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. v. 175 The Sloop..rolled and pitched so violently, that it was impossible for a boat to lay a long-side of her. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxv. 132 The ship works hard, groaning and creaking, and pitching into a heavy head-sea. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Send, to, to rise after pitching heavily and suddenly between two waves, or out of the trough of the sea.
c. trans. with adv. or extension: To cast (away, overboard, etc.) by this movement. (A mixture of senses 17 and 19.)
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., When a ship falls with her head too much into the sea, or beats against it so as to endanger her top-masts, they say, she will pitch her masts by the board. 1811Naval. Chron. XXV. 27 Having pitched her bowsprit and foremast away. 1885J. Runciman Skippers & Sh. 17 Which threatened to pitch the masts out of her.
d. intr. Of a person or animal: To plunge forward like a pitching ship. (Cf. to lurch.)
1849Thackeray Pendennis lx, When I begin to talk too much..when I begin to pitch, I authorize you..to put away the brandy-bottle. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii, Whistling to the lumbering Newfoundland, who came pitching tumultuously toward them. 1863Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. xx. 508 The only time he..ventures at a reason for what he says, he flounders and pitches headlong.
e. (See quot.) U.S.
1883Hallock Sportsman's Gaz. Gloss., Pitch, v.i., to buck, to jump from the ground with the legs bunched together, as a mustang or mule.
f. Aeronaut. and Astronautics. intr. Of an aircraft or spacecraft: to rotate or rock about a lateral axis, to undergo pitching. Also trans., to cause (an aircraft, etc.) to do this.
1874Ann. Rep. Aeronaut. Soc. 59 If..the model pitches forward on its nose, it is only necessary to slide the aeroplane further forward on the rod. If it still pitches turn up the horizontal rudder slightly. 1903Aeronaut. Jrnl. VII. 53/2 The best angles were given by shapes which..would always pitch forward unless controlled by a large and well turned up tail. 1918Cowley & Levy Aeronautics vii. 152 The pitching moment produced is about 123 lbs.-ft., enough to pitch the aeroplane through an angle of ½°. 1926Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXX. 521 The examination would be comparatively easy if only the operation of the longitudinal control simply pitched the aeroplane, the lateral control banked and the rudder control yawed it. 1932R. Mahachek Airplane Pilots' Man. iv. 37 The plane will gradually pitch upward or downward unless the pilot moves his control stick slightly forward or backward. 1961D. Myrus Man into Space ii. 36/1 At about 50,000 feet the engines automatically flip slightly to one side, pitching the missile from straight up to a little north of due east. 1964J. E. D. Williams Operation of Airliners vii. 104 When an aircraft yaws or pitches there is an immediate change in the aerodynamic forces. 1970N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon x. 242 We pitched over to a level altitude which would allow us to maintain our horizontal velocity and just skim along over the top of the boulder field.
IV.
20. a. intr. To incline or slope forwards and downwards; to dip. Also, of a roof or other structure: to slope downwards (U.S.). In Mining and Geol. now used esp. of a linear feature, as an ore shoot or fold axis (cf. pitch n.2 24 b): to have a pitch of a given angle and direction.
1519[see pitching ppl. a. 1]. 1719Strachey in Phil. Trans. XXX. 969 It riseth to the North West, and pitcheth to the South East. 1771in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1914) LXXI. 137, I should have the Roof to pitch from under the Arkitraves of the Chamber Windows. 1859Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. III. 538 The roof may pitch both ways, or shed at the ends. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 162 The vein..increases in width with depth and pitches 36° east. 1897F. C. Moore How to build Home vii. 94 The floor shall pitch from building to the front of piazza 1/4 inch to every foot of width. 1906Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Survey No. 54. 206 In the Midget mine the Cobb ore shoot pitches 45° NE. 1910Lake & Rastall Test-bk. Geol. i. 20 A fold whose axis was inclined downwards towards the south-east would be said to pitch to the south-east, and the angle of pitch could be expressed in degrees, as in the case of dip. 1939A. K. Lobeck Geomorphol. xvii. 593 The two monoclinal ridges formed on the two limbs of the anticline do not run strictly parallel..but converge and meet, the convergence being in the direction toward which the anticline pitches. 1962[see pitch n.2 24 b]. 1966E. H. T. Whitten Struct. Geol. Folded Rocks i. 26 In a sedimentary sequence folded about a horizontal fold axis one bed has a strike of 130 and dips SW at 45°. Ripple marks are observed on this bedding plane; they pitch at 40° to the southeast (i.e., the angle between the strike and the ripples is 40°).
b. intr. To subside or settle down, as a swelling or loose soil; fig. to fall off, lose flesh. dial.
1794T. Davis Agric. Wilts. 36 The ewes shrink their milk, the lambs ‘pitch and get stunted’, and the best summer food will not recover them. Ibid. 37 The rule is to give it [the meadow] a ‘thorough good soaking’ at first,..to make the land sink and pitch close together. 1850Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 679 When they [sheep] are first put into turnips they lose ground, or pitch, as it is called, for two months in the autumn, and are slow in regaining it afterwards.
c. To drop down or descend abruptly (to a lower level).
1851N. Kingsley Diary 21 Jan. (1914) 168 We have come to where the bed rock pitches down suddenly. 1867‘T. Lackland’ Homespun i. 70 One of these [pastures]..sloping where it does not pitch, down to the rocky bed of the riotous stream. 1873J. Miller Life amongst Modocs vi. 72 Gorge on gorge, cañon intersecting cañon, pitching down towards the rapid Klamat.
V. Technical senses.
21. Mech. trans. and intr. To fit into, interlock, engage (as one cog-wheel with another).
a1668Davenant Play House to Let Wks. (1673) 91 But his fingers are pitcht together. 1792Specif. Kelly's Patent No. 1879. 5 The pinion P pitches into and turns the wheel R. 1825[see pitching vbl. n.1 9].
22. Brewing. To add the yeast to wort for the purpose of inducing fermentation.
1846J. Baxter's Libr. Pract. Agric. I. 136 Pitching or Setting.—This term is applied to the mixing the yeast with the wort, after it has been cooled. 1875Ure's Dict. Arts I. 316 The heat is at this time generally 75°, if it was pitched at 65°; for the heat and the attenuation go hand in hand.
VI. with adv. or prep.
23. a. pitch in: to set to work vigorously. Also, to turn (aside) to a particular objective; to begin. colloq. (chiefly U.S.).
1847–78Halliwell s.v., Pitch in, to set to work; to beat or thrash a person. 1896Harper's Mag. XCII. 766/2 They subsequently did pitch in, however, and fought well. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. ix, He's paid me half now; and I took hold with Dan and pitched right in. I can't do a man's work yet. 1932Wodehouse Louder & Funnier 11 Then, with the coffee and old brandy at your side.., pitch in. 1971W. Hillen Blackwater River iv. 36 A favorite stopping-place for..swans, cranes, and geese. They pitch in to feed and rest.
b. pitch into: to attack or assail forcibly (with blows, etc., or with words); to reprimand. colloq. Also in weakened senses.
1829P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 267 Dick..pitched in to Warren, who was obliged to fight for his safety. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) 1st Ser. I. 51, I wished..that the people would only blow me up, or pitch into me—that I wouldn't have minded. 1839Spirit of Times 30 Mar. 48/2 The man was lost in astonishment which but increased the rage of the husband of the cantatrice, who forthwith ‘pitched into’ him in the last London style, and an entire ‘mus’ was made of the man's face. c1843De Quincey Ceylon Wks. 1859 XII. 16 Both [monarchs] pitched into us in 1803, and we pitched into both in 1815. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xx, If any man had told me, then,..I should have pitched into him. 1852Punch 10 July 25/2, I saw that gourmand Guttler pitching contentedly into a kangaroo chop. 1863Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens Life (1895) I. v. 287, I shall have to pitch into him a great deal more in my second volume. 1885G. Allen Babylon vi, You sit down..and pitch into those sandwiches. 1906G. B. Shaw Let. 18 Nov. (1972) II. 661 A vaccine opsinises your disease germs..so that the white blood corpuscles..pitch into them with an appetite. 1952Sun (Baltimore) 4 July 42/8 The two young Negroes pitched into him and the one with the gun pistol-whipped the physician.
†c. pitch out (Cricket): to dismiss; to bowl out or to run out by a ball that does not touch the ground before it hits the wickets. Obs.
1858Bell's Life in London 18 July 7/6 Caffyn was pitched out—the ball never touching the ground until after it had disturbed the stumps. 1876John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack 115 He was stated to have been brilliantly pitched out by Mr. Strachan from mid-off.
24. In extended use, pitch-and-putt [pitch n.2 3 c], a form of golf in which the green can be reached in one; fig., an insignificant distance; attrib., of or pertaining to a spec. type of miniature golf course.
1963Harper's Bazaar Jan. 9/2 Pitch and Putt Course. Tennis. Sea-bathing. 1968Sun (Baltimore) 5 July a14/7 His delegate count is within a pitch and a putt of the nominating majority. 1972J. McClure Caterpillar Cop xiv. 234, I believe..you played a round of pitch-and-putt? 1974Times 8 Feb. 15/4 A pitch-and-putt course covering five acres. 1976J. Snow Cricket Rebel 70 Two days in which my only activity had been in a pitch and putt competition organised by the players and Press in the hotel grounds.
VII. 25. The verb stem in comb. forming ns., in names of games in which coins or other objects are pitched or thrown at a mark or into a hole or vessel; as pitch-and-chuck (cf. chuck-farthing), pitch-and-hustle (cf. hustle-cap), pitch-button, pitch-halfpenny, pitch-in-the-hole, pitch-in-the-tub; see also pitch-and-toss, pitch-farthing.
1749W. Ellis Shepherds G. 199 Others..go shooting of Birds, or play at Bandy-wicket, *Pitch and Chuck, Hooper's Hide.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 82/1 *Pich and Hussle. 1764Low Life (ed. 3) 46 Narrow Alleys filled with Boys playing at Marbles, Pitch and Hussle. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. iii. viii. §15 Pitch and Hustle..a game commonly played in the fields by the lowest classes.
1861Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 134, I was watching a lot of boys playing at *pitch-button. 1828*Pitch-halfpenny [see pinch n. 6].
a1845Hood Tale Trumpet xxxvi, Playing at dumps, or *pitch in the hole.
1901Daily News 22 Jan. 9/1 The young ladies for the most part seemed to be in the ‘*pitch-in-the-tub’ branch of the profession. [Note. The form of this verb, and the fact that it has the collateral form pick v.2 (chiefly, but not entirely, northern), naturally suggests some etymological connexion with pick v.1 (OE. pícian or pician). To this, in sense also, it stood originally in somewhat of a causal relation: pick to pierce or penetrate (with something pointed), pitch to cause to penetrate, to stick (something pointed) in. But no satisfactory explanation of *piccean as a causal derivative of pícian or pician appears. And although the form pick appears in both verbs, they are formally distinct, in that pick v.1 occurs with short and long i, but only with k, never -tch, while pitch occurs both with -tch and -k, but never with long ī. They are also quite distinct dialectally; dialects which use pick v.2 for pitch, use pike for pick v.1]
Add:[II.] [16.] b. Comm. With for: to forecast or estimate (a share price, etc.); to aim at (a particular result).
1983Times 23 Sept. 18/3 Market men expect the sale to go well, with most observers pitching for a striking price of 430p. 1985A. Blond Book Book iii. 51 He is pitching for a turnover of {pstlg}6 million. 1988Investors Chron. 8 Jan. 8/2 James Capel suggests between {pstlg}20m and {pstlg}21m ({pstlg}14.4m) with earnings of 34p, while Kleinwort Grieveson pitches for {pstlg}19.5m.
[III.] [17.] e. intr. Of a man: to make sexual advances. Also const. (up) to. Chiefly U.S.
1903Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 526/1 Pitch up to, to make advances, to make love to. 1930D. Runyon Lily of St. Pierre in Collier's 20 Dec. 32/4, I never think of Lily as anything but a little doll with her hair in braids, and certainly not a doll such as a guy will start pitching to. 1953S. Bellow Adventures A. March v. 80, I hugged and pitched on the porches and in the back-yards with girls. 1985Amer. Speech LX. iii. 251 She distinguishes wolves,..from pimps.., from daddies.., all three of whom pitch but don't catch.
f. Comm. To make a bid or offer for business (esp. a client's account). Also without const.
1985T. Douglas Compl. Guide Advertising iv. 110/1 The importance of confidentiality meant that even within the agency no one ever referred to the fact that it was pitching for the Woolworth account. 1985Times 13 Apr. 11/4 (heading) Lloyd's pitches for China business. 1986Marketing 11 Sept. 3/2 A corporate campaign for Dee seems certain, but no agencies have yet been asked to pitch. 1988Creative Rev. Jan. 37/2 It's an account which they pitched for and won. 1988Times 29 Oct. 19/7 Repsol, the Spanish oil company, might well pitch.
g. trans. To discard or throw away (an unwanted object). N. Amer. colloq.
1985Cohen & Schlotzhauer in D. L. Gold Comments on Etymol. XIV. xi. & xii. 10 The pub keeper in full view of the customer broke off a piece of the stem, insuring that the new customer would have a clean area to suck on. When the stem got too short, the thing was pitched. 1987J. Rule Memory Board vii. 108 Patricia had taken such good care of his clothes that he had not had time..to become a disgrace, but Christine did suggest pitching a thing or two.
h. To drive (a vehicle) rapidly and somewhat recklessly into a bend or round the track. colloq. (chiefly Motor Racing).
1985Dirt Bike Mar. 36/1 If you're flying and you pitch it, it will slide around the turn. 1986Road Racer Aug./Sept. 22/3 The bike steered too quickly, feeling as though, once pitched into a turn, it just wanted to carry on falling. 1987Motoring News 3 June 16/2 Where last year Didier didn't look all that fast, this time he did throughout, pitching the white car round in flowing style to snatch the pole from favourite Jean Alesi's Oreca Dallara.
[VI.] [23.] [a.] For def. read: pitch in: to set to work vigorously; also, to turn (aside) to a particular objective; to begin. Hence, to add one's contribution to a general effort or fund. colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.). (Further examples.)
1924H. Croy R.F.D. No. 3 iii. 52 It was a serious thing for a girl on a farm not to pitch in and help with the work. 1943B. Smith Tree grows in Brooklyn iv. xliv. 283 When her papers were read up, she didn't have to pitch in, as the other readers did, and help the girls who were behind. 1973J. Gardner Nickel Mountain iii. i. 88 Neighbors from here to Athensville and New Carthage had pitched in and helped him lay up the cinder-block house behind the diner. 1985A. Guinness Blessings in Disguise vii. 87 The only people who didn't pitch in with something were the Dukhobors, the extreme puritanical sect. 1988P. Auster In Country of Last Things 139 Every resident, as we called them, had to agree to certain conditions... No fighting or stealing, for example, and a willingness to pitch in with the chores.
▪ IV. pitch, v.2|pɪtʃ|
Forms: 1 (ᵹe)pician, 3–4 piche(n, 4 picche, 5–6 pyche, pytch(e, 6– pitch. β. northern. 3 pike, 4 pik, 5–6 pycke, 5–7 picke, 6– pick.
[OE. (ᵹe)pician, f. pic, pitch n.1]
trans. To cover, coat, or smear with pitch; to mark or brand (a sheep, etc.) with pitch; to soil or stain with pitch.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 26 ᵹedo on wæter .xxx. nihta on ænne croccan þone þe sie ᵹepicod utan. c1290St. Brandan 97 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 222, & siþþe ipiched al aboute þat þe water ne come. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxiii. (Tollem MS.), Þe ton is calde schippe picche, for schippes beþ pichid [1495 pytched] þerwiþ. 1496Naval Acc. Hen. VII 176, xj barelles peche to pyche the said shipp. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 150 b, Let him pitch euery sowe and her pigs with a seuerall marke. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 110 Without it you would pitch all your cloaths. 1716Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 260 Theire Money was brought thither in Barrells, pitch'd up. 1817Bennet in Parl. Deb. 1861 The deponent declared, that he had seen men pitched and tarred, and hunted through the streets, on whom torture was afterwards inflicted.
βc1300Havelok 707 He dede it tere, an ful wel pike, That it ne doutede sond ne krike. 13..Cursor M. 5615 (Cott.) An esscen kyst sco did be wroght, Did pik it sua wit-oute and in. a1400–50Alexander 4208 A barge..draȝen ouer with hidis, Pared & parreld at his pay pickid & taloghid. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 109 The shyppe of Noe was soo well pycked. 1611Cotgr., Brayer vn navire, to graue, picke, or pitch, a Ship. 17..Sir Patrick Spens xxiii. in Child Ballads iii. (1885) 28/2 Ye'll pict her well, and spare her not, And mak her hale and soun.
b. fig. To make ‘as dark as pitch’; to envelop in pitchy darkness.
1664Dryden Rival Ladies ii. i, O call that night again; Pitch her with all her darkness round. a1700― On Death of Amyntas 6 But soon he found The welkin pitched with sullen clouds around. |