high-pitchedadj.

1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B2 His high picht thoughts.

1614 C. Brooke Ghost Richard III sig. E3 Low Thoughts, in high-pitcht Hopes, despaire do bring.

1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Bentivoglio Compl. Hist. Warrs Flanders 215 He had so high-pitcht thoughts, as would not suffer him to be at quiet under the condition of a Prince.

1703 J. Browne Mod. Pract. Physick Vindicated 22 His high pitcht Reason..is of no weight.

1789 A. Harper Treat. Real Cause & Cure Insanity 39 The tone of the mental faculty was too high pitched to allow any particular idea to get the ascendency.

1823 J. Hogg Shepherd's Cal. in D. O. Hill Tales & Sketches Ettrick Shepherd (1837) IV. xiv. 172 The miserable wreck of all my high-pitched ambition.

1875 A. Maclaren Serm. 2nd Ser. i. 2 The language..seems much too emphatic and high-pitched, to be fully satisfied by a reference to anything in this life.

1937 W. MacNeile Dixon Human Situation ii. xxi. 425 The collapse of the high-pitched expectations of a regenerated human society.

1596 M. Drayton Mortimeriados sig. H2 Thy high-pitchd pyneons sore beyond report.

1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. vi. viii. 903 Yet are the roofes high pitcht, and the vppermost lightly open in the middest.

1698 M. Lister Journey to Paris 153 They throw up the common Earth of the place, and cover the Dung with it, like the ridge of a House, high pitched.

1758 S. Hales Treat. on Ventilators ii. 151 The high-pitched Assay-office at Goldsmith's Hall.

1771 J. Bentham Hist. & Antiq. Church of Ely I. 39 The vaulting of Salisbury Cathedral..is high pitched.

1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 427 After the decline of the Roman Empire, high-pitched roofs were very generally introduced.

1886 F. Caddy Footsteps Jeanne D'Arc 83 Its high-pitched lead roof with many pinnacles and flèches.

1938 Amer. Home Oct. 40/2 Casement windows, modernized by the use of metal sash, rough timber porch framing, high pitched gables..are examples.

1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 435 There are high-pitched rafters at either end.

2003 Wanderlust Apr. 82/2 The simple wooden building, with its high-pitched roof and central chimney.

1597 G. Markham tr. G. Pétau de Maulette Deuoreux 13 So would I rayse my thoughts, and so far straine My high-pitcht notes to make the world resound.

1677 J. Phillips tr. J.-B. Tavernier Persian Trav. iv. xvii. 183 in tr. J.-B. Tavernier Six Voy. (1678) But his Voice being a high-pitch'd Voice..the King did not like him.

1748 J. Mason Ess. Elocution 7 Children generally get a Habit of reading in a high-pitched Key.

1792 J. Byng Diary 9 June in Torrington Diaries (1936) III. 54 My landlord..seems..yoked to a tygress, if I may judge from her high-pitched voice..in the kitchen.

1882 Cent. Mag. Mar. 655/2 The street is filled with market-wagons, and the air is alive with the high-pitched cries of women.

1920 F. Packard White Moll i. 11 From a dance-hall came..a high-pitched, hectic burst of laughter.

1953 H. R. Ricardo High-speed Internal-combustion Engine ii. 27 A pressure wave travelling at so high a velocity as..to set them in vibration and thus give rise to a high-pitched ‘ping’.

1989 P. van der Merwe Origins Pop. Style (1992) xix. 161 A repetitive pattern..struck on some high-pitched instrument.

2005 Wall St. Jrnl. 17 Sept. (Central ed.) p16/5 Leaf blowers have become synonymous with high-pitched whines and acrid emissions.

1896 Athenaeum 13 June 775/3 The high-pitched romance is entertaining in its own peculiar way. It is unquestionably wild.

1921 J. N. Hall & C. B. Nordhoff Faery Lands South Seas v. 96 As we pulled away from the schooner a high-pitched argument began.

1981 R. Davies Rebel Angels (1983) 127 Her affection would be as high-pitched as her wrath.

1997 J. Ryan Dismantling Mr Doyle xi. 161 The high-pitched excitement with which she enthused about Mary's engagement triggered a spate of ‘thanks’ and ‘thanks-a-million’.

2008 Philadelphia Inquirer (Nexis) 7 June a1 High-pitched debate on the House floor dragged on for more than three hours as supporters cited a need to protect the traditional definition of marriage.