Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense pitches, present participle pitching, past tense, past participle pitched
1. countable noun [oft noun NOUN]
A pitch is an area of ground that is marked out and used for playing a game such as football, cricket, or hockey.
[mainly British]
There was a swimming-pool, cricket pitches, and playing fields.
Their conduct both on and off the pitch was excellent.
regional note: in AM, usually use field
2. verb
If you pitch something somewhere, you throw it with quite a lot of force, usually aiming it carefully.
Simon pitched the empty bottle into the lake. [VERB noun preposition]
Synonyms: throw, launch, cast, toss More Synonyms of pitch
3. verb
To pitch somewhere means to fall forwards suddenly and with a lot of force.
The movement took him by surprise, and he pitched forward. [VERB adverb]
Alan staggered sideways, pitched head-first over the low wall and fell into the lake. [VERB adverb]
I was pitched into the water and swam ashore. [beVERB-ed preposition/adverb]
Synonyms: fall, drop, plunge, dive More Synonyms of pitch
4. verb
If someone is pitched into a new situation, they are suddenly forced into it.
They were being pitched into a new adventure. [beVERB-ed preposition]
This could pitch the government into confrontation with the work-force. [VERB noun preposition]
5. verb
In the game of baseball or rounders, when you pitch the ball, you throw it to the batter for them to hit it.
We passed long, hot afternoons pitching a baseball. [VERB noun]
[Also VERB preposition]
pitchinguncountable noun
His pitching was a legend among major league hitters.
6. uncountable noun
The pitch of a sound is how high or low it is.
He raised his voice to an even higher pitch.
Synonyms: tone, sound, key, frequency More Synonyms of pitch
7. See also perfect pitch
8. verb [usually passive]
If a sound is pitched at a particular level, it is produced at the level indicated.
His cry is pitched at a level that makes it impossible to ignore. [beVERB-ed preposition/adverb]
His voice was pitched high, the words muffled by his crying. [beVERB-ed preposition/adverb]
Her voice was well pitched and brisk. [VERB-ed]
9. See also high-pitched, low-pitched
10. verb
If something is pitchedat a particular level or degree of difficulty, it is set at that level.
I think the material is pitched at too high a level for our purposes. [beVERB-ed preposition]
The government has pitched High Street interest rates at a new level. [VERB noun preposition]
Synonyms: aim, direct, design for, mean for More Synonyms of pitch
11. singular noun
If something such as a feeling or a situation rises to a high pitch, it rises to a high level.
No other emotion is able to keep the body at a high pitch for such long periods.
The hysteria reached such a pitch that police were deployed to reassure parents atthe school gates.
Synonyms: level, point, degree, summit More Synonyms of pitch
12. See also fever pitch
13. verb
If you pitch your tent, or pitch camp, you put up your tent in a place where you are going to stay.
He had pitched his tent in the yard. [VERB noun]
At dusk we pitched camp in the middle of nowhere. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: set up, place, station, locate More Synonyms of pitch
14. verb
If a boat pitches, it moves violently up and down with the movement of the waves when the sea is rough.
The ship is pitching and rolling in what looks like about fifteen-foot seas. [VERB]
Synonyms: toss (about), roll, plunge, flounder More Synonyms of pitch
15. uncountable noun
Pitch is a black substance that is sticky when it is hot and very hard when it is dry. Pitch is used on the bottoms of boatsand on the roofs of houses to prevent water getting in.
The timbers of similar houses were painted with pitch.
Synonyms: tar, asphalt, bitumen More Synonyms of pitch
16. See also pitch-black
17. See also pitched
18.
See make a pitch/make one's pitch
19. See also sales pitch
Phrasal verbs:
See pitch for
See pitch in
More Synonyms of pitch
pitch in British English1
(pɪtʃ)
verb
1.
to hurl or throw (something); cast; fling
2. (usually tr)
to set up (a camp, tent, etc)
3. (transitive)
to place or thrust (a stake, spear, etc) into the ground
4. (intransitive)
to move vigorously or irregularly to and fro or up and down
5. (transitive)
to aim or fix (something) at a particular level, position, style, etc
if you advertise privately you may pitch the price too low
6. (transitive)
to aim to sell (a product) to a specified market or on a specified basis
7. (intransitive)
to slope downwards
8. (intransitive)
to fall forwards or downwards
9. (intransitive)
(of a vessel) to dip and raise its bow and stern alternately
10. cricket
to bowl (a ball) so that it bounces on a certain part of the wicket, or (of a ball) to bounce on a certain part of the wicket
11. (intransitive)
(of a missile, aircraft, etc) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by movement of the longitudinal axis about the lateral axis
Compare yaw (sense 1), roll (sense 13)
12. (transitive)
(in golf) to hit (a ball) steeply into the air, esp with backspin to minimize roll
13. (transitive) music
a.
to sing or play accurately (a note, interval, etc)
b. (usually passive)
(of a wind instrument) to specify or indicate its basic key or harmonic series by its size, manufacture, etc
14. (transitive) cards
to lead (a suit) and so determine trumps for that trick
15. baseball
a. (transitive)
to throw (a baseball) to a batter
b. (intransitive)
to act as pitcher in a baseball game
16. Southwest England dialect(used withit as subject)
to snow without the settled snow melting
17. in there pitching
18. pitch a tale
noun
19.
the degree of elevation or depression
20.
a.
the angle of descent of a downward slope
b.
such a slope
21.
the extreme height or depth
22. mountaineering
a section of a route between two belay points, sometimes equal to the full length of the rope but often shorter
23.
the degree of slope of a roof, esp when expressed as a ratio of height to span
24.
the distance between corresponding points on adjacent members of a body of regular form, esp the distance between teeth on a gearwheel or between threads on a screw thread
25.
the distance between regularly spaced objects such as rivets, bolts, etc
26.
the pitching motion of a ship, missile, etc
27.
a.
the distance a propeller advances in one revolution, assuming no slip
b.
the blade angle of a propeller or rotor
28.
the distance between the back rest of a seat in a passenger aircraft and the backof the seat in front of it
29. music
a.
the auditory property of a note that is conditioned by its frequency relative to other notes
high pitch
low pitch
b.
an absolute frequency assigned to a specific note, fixing the relative frequencies of all other notes. The fundamental frequencies of the notes A–G, in accordance with the frequency A = 440 hertz, were internationally standardized and accepted in 1939
See also concert pitch (sense 1), international pitch
30. cricket
the rectangular area between the stumps, 22 yards long and 10 feet wide; the wicket
31. geology
the inclination of the axis of an anticline or syncline or of a stratum or vein from the horizontal
32. another name for seven-up
33.
the act or manner of pitching a ball, as in cricket
34. mainly British
a vendor's station, esp on a pavement
35. slang
a persuasive sales talk, esp one routinely repeated
36. mainly British
(in many sports) the field of play
37. Also called: pitch shot golf
an approach shot in which the ball is struck in a high arc
38. make a pitch for
39. queer someone's pitch
Word origin
C13 picchen; possibly related to pick1
pitch in British English2
(pɪtʃ)
noun
1.
any of various heavy dark viscid substances obtained as a residue from the distillation of tars
See also coal-tar pitch
2.
any of various similar substances, such as asphalt, occurring as natural deposits
3.
any of various similar substances obtained by distilling certain organic substancesso that they are incompletely carbonized
4.
crude turpentine obtained as sap from pine trees
▶ Related adjective: piceous
verb
5. (transitive)
to apply pitch to (something)
Word origin
Old English pic, from Latin pix
pitch in American English1
(pɪtʃ)
transitive verb
1.
to erect or set up (a tent, camp, or the like)
2.
to put, set, or plant in a fixed or definite place or position
3.
to throw, fling, hurl, or toss
4. Baseball
a.
to deliver or serve (the ball) to the batter
b.
to fill the position of pitcher in (a game)
He pitched a no-hitter
He pitched a good game
c.
to choose or assign as a pitcher for a game
The manager pitched Greene the next night
5.
to set at a certain point, degree, level, etc
He pitched his hopes too high
6. Music
to set at a particular pitch, or determine the key or keynote of (a melody)
7. Cards
a.
to lead (a card of a particular suit), thereby fixing that suit as trump
b.
to determine (the trump) in this manner
8.
to pave or revet with small stones
9. (Masonry)
a.
to square (a stone), cutting the arrises true with a chisel
b.
to cut with a chisel
10. informal
to attempt to sell or win approval for; promote; advertise
to pitch breakfast foods at a sales convention
11. informal
to approach or court (as a person, company, or the public) in hope of a sale, approval, or interest; make an appeal to
12.
to cause to pitch
13. obsolete
to set in order; to arrange, as a field of battle
14. obsolete
to fix firmly as in the ground; embed
intransitive verb
15.
to plunge or fall forward or headlong
16.
to lurch
17.
to throw or toss
18. Baseball
a.
to deliver or serve the ball to the batter
b.
to fill the position of pitcher
He pitched for the Mets last year
19.
to slope downward; dip
20.
to plunge with alternate fall and rise of bow and stern, as a ship (opposed to roll)
21. (of a rocket or guided missile)
to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillations of the longitudinal axis in a vertical plane about the center of gravity
22.
to fix a tent or temporary habitation; encamp
They pitched by a mountain stream
23. Golf
to play a pitch shot
24. informal
to attempt to sell or win approval for something or someone by advertising, promotion,etc
politicians pitching on TV
25. rare
to become established; settle down
26. See pitch in
27. See pitch into
28. See pitch on
noun
29.
relative point, position, or degree
a high pitch of excitement
30.
the degree of inclination or slope; angle
the pitch of an arch
the pitch of a stair
31.
the highest point or greatest height
enjoying the pitch of success
32. (in music, speech, etc.)
the degree of height or depth of a tone or of sound, depending upon the relative rapidity of the vibrations by which it is produced
33. Music
the particular tonal standard with which given tones may be compared in respect to their relative level
34. Acoustics
the apparent predominant frequency sounded by an acoustical source
35.
act or manner of pitching
36.
a throw or toss
37. Baseball
the serving of the ball to the batter by the pitcher, usually preceded by a windupor stretch
38.
a pitching movement or forward plunge, as of a ship
39.
upward or downward inclination or slope
a road descending at a steep pitch
40.
a sloping part or place
to build on the pitch of a hill
41.
a quantity of something pitched or placed somewhere
42. Cricket
the central part of the field; the area between the wickets
43. informal
a.
a high-pressure sales talk
The salesman made his pitch for the new line of dresses
b.
a specific plan of action; angle
to tackle a problem again, using a new pitch
44.
the specific location in which a person or object is placed or stationed; allotted or assigned place
45. chiefly Brit
the established location, often a street corner, of a market trader, vendor, etc
46. Aeronautics
a.
the nosing of an airplane or spacecraft up or down about a transverse axis
b.
the distance that a given propeller would advance in one revolution
47. (of a rocket or guided missile)
a.
the motion due to pitching
b.
the extent of the rotation of the longitudinal axis involved in pitching
48. Also called: plunge Geology
the inclination of a linear feature, as the axis of a fold or an oreshoot, from the horizontal
49. Machinery
a.
the distance between the corresponding surfaces of two adjacent gear teeth measured either along the pitch circle (circular pitch) or between perpendiculars to the root surfaces (normal pitch)
b.
the ratio of the number of teeth in a gear or splined shaft to the pitch circle diameter, expressed in inches
c.
the distance between any two adjacent things in a series, as screw threads, rivets,etc
50. (in carpet weaving)
the weftwise number of warp ends, usually determined in relation to 27 inches (68.6 cm)
51. Cards
a. See "> all fours (sense 2)
b. See auction pitch
52. Building
a true or even surface on a stone
53. (of typewriter type)
a unit of measurement indicating the number of characters to a horizontal inch
Pica is a 10-pitch type
Derived forms
pitchable
adjective
Word origin
[1175–1225; (v.) ME picchen to thrust, pierce, set, set up (a tent, etc.), array, throw; perh. akin to pick1; (n.) deriv. of the v.]
pitch in American English2
(pɪtʃ)
noun
1.
any of various dark, tenacious, and viscous substances for caulking and paving, consisting of the residue of the distillation of coal tar or wood tar
2.
any of certain bitumens, as asphalt
mineral pitch
3.
any of various resins
4.
the sap or crude turpentine that exudes from the bark of pines
transitive verb
5.
to smear or cover with pitch
Derived forms
pitchlike
adjective
Word origin
[bef. 900; ME pich, OE pic ‹ L pic- (s. of pix), whence also D pek, G Pech; akin to Gk píssa pitch]
sports ground A pitch is an area of ground that is marked out and used for playing a game such as football, cricket, or hockey.
...cricket pitches.
American English: field sport
Arabic: مَيْدانٌ رِيَّاضِي
Brazilian Portuguese: campo
Chinese: 球场
Croatian: teren
Czech: hřiště fotbalové
Danish: bane sportsbane
Dutch: veld sport
European Spanish: terreno de juego
Finnish: pelikenttä
French: terrain
German: Spielfeld
Greek: γήπεδο
Italian: campo
Japanese: ピッチ 競技場
Korean: 경기장
Norwegian: bane
Polish: boisko
European Portuguese: campo
Romanian: terensport
Russian: подача
Latin American Spanish: terreno de juego
Swedish: plan sport
Thai: สนามกีฬา
Turkish: saha spor
Ukrainian: гральне поле
Vietnamese: điểm bóng rơi
British English: pitch /pɪtʃ/ NOUN
sound The pitch of a sound is how high or low it is.
He raised his voice to an even higher pitch.
American English: pitch sound
Arabic: طَبَقَةُ صَوْت
Brazilian Portuguese: intensidade som
Chinese: 定调
Croatian: visina glasa
Czech: výška hlasu
Danish: tonehøjde
Dutch: toonhoogte
European Spanish: tono
Finnish: äänenkorkeus
French: son tonalité
German: Tonhöhe
Greek: ύψος τόνου
Italian: tono
Japanese: 調子
Korean: 음높이
Norwegian: tonehøyde
Polish: tonacja
European Portuguese: intensidade som
Romanian: ton
Russian: тон
Latin American Spanish: tono
Swedish: tonhöjd
Thai: ระดับเสียง
Turkish: perde ses
Ukrainian: діапазон
Vietnamese: độ cao âm thanh
British English: pitch /pɪtʃ/ VERB
If you pitch something somewhere, you throw it forcefully while aiming carefully.
Simon pitched the empty bottle into the lake.
American English: pitch
Arabic: يَرْمي
Brazilian Portuguese: arremessar
Chinese: 投
Croatian: snažno gađati
Czech: hodit
Danish: kaste
Dutch: gooien
European Spanish: lanzar béisbol
Finnish: heittää syöttää tms.
French: lancer
German: werfen
Greek: ρίχνω
Italian: lanciare
Japanese: 投げる
Korean: 던지다
Norwegian: kaste
Polish: umieścić
European Portuguese: arremessar
Romanian: a arunca
Russian: бросать
Latin American Spanish: lanzar
Swedish: kasta
Thai: ขว้าง
Turkish: fırlatmak
Ukrainian: метати
Vietnamese: ném
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All related terms of 'pitch'
pitch for
If someone is pitching for something, they are trying to persuade other people to give it to them.
pitch in
If you pitch in , you join in and help with an activity .
pitch on
to determine or decide
slo pitch
→ slow pitch
fast pitch
a variety of softball in which the ball is pitched at a high speed with an underhand motion
fever pitch
If something is at fever pitch , it is in an extremely active or excited state.
full pitch
a bowled ball that reaches the batsman without bouncing
pitch-black
If a place or the night is pitch-black , it is completely dark.
pitch camp
to settle somewhere or have control of a certain area for a period of time
pitch-dark
Pitch-dark means the same as → pitch-black .
pitch into
to assail physically or verbally
Pitch Lake
a deposit of natural asphalt in the Caribbean, in SW Trinidad . Area: 46 hectares (114 acres )
pitch pine
any of various coniferous trees of the genus Pinus, esp P . rigida, of North America, having red-brown bark and long lustrous light brown cones : valued as a source of turpentine and pitch
pitch pipe
a small pipe , esp one having a reed like a harmonica , that sounds a note or notes of standard frequency . It is used for establishing the correct starting note for unaccompanied singing
pitch shot
to hurl or throw (something); cast ; fling
sales pitch
A salesperson's sales pitch is what they say in order to persuade someone to buy something from them.
slow pitch
a variety of softball in which the ball is pitched with an underhand motion at moderate speed in an arc that rises at least six feet above the ground
wild pitch
a misplay in which the pitcher throws a pitch so wildly that the catcher cannot catch or control it and a base runner advances to another base as a result
wood pitch
the dark viscid residue left after the distillation of wood tar : used as a binder in briquettes
auction pitch
a variety of all fours in which players bid to determine the trump or pitch
concert pitch
the frequency of 440 hertz assigned to the A above middle C
mineral pitch
any of several black semisolid substances composed of bitumen and inert mineral matter. They occur naturally in parts of America and as a residue from petroleum distillation : used as a waterproofing material and in paints , dielectrics , and fungicides
perfect pitch
Someone who has perfect pitch is able to identify or sing musical notes correctly.
pitch accent
(in languages such as Ancient Greek or modern Swedish ) an accent in which emphatic syllables are pronounced on a higher musical pitch relative to other syllables
pitch circle
an imaginary circle passing through the teeth of a gearwheel , concentric with the gearwheel, and having a radius that would enable it to be in contact with a similar circle around a mating gearwheel
soccer pitch
the field of play used in soccer
twelve pitch
the most powerful , rich, gifted , or educated members of a group, community, etc
absolute pitch
the ability to identify exactly the pitch of a note without comparing it to another
brushback pitch
a fast ball deliberately thrown at or too near a batter's head
elevator pitch
an informal an extremely short and pithy version of a sales pitch or business plan
football pitch
the field of play at a football ground
make a pitch
to tell people how good something is and try to persuade them to support it or buy it
pitch a tale
to tell a story , usually of a fantastic nature
pitch blackness
extreme darkness; lack of light
pitch cylinder
an imaginary cylinder passing through, and coaxial with, the threads of a screw so that its intersection with opposite flanks of any groove is equal to half the thread pitch
pitch darkness
extreme darkness; lack of light
pitch invasion
If there is a pitch invasion during or after a football, rugby, or cricket match, fans run on to the pitch.
standard pitch
→ concert pitch
training pitch
A pitch is an area of ground that is marked out and used for playing a game such as football , cricket , or hockey .
artificial pitch
A pitch is an area of ground that is marked out and used for playing a game such as football , cricket , or hockey .
coal-tar pitch
a residue left by the distillation of coal tar : a mixture of hydrocarbons and finely divided carbon used as a binder for fuel briquettes , road surfaces, and carbon electrodes
pitch and putt
a type of miniature golf in which the holes are usually between 50 to 100 metres in length
pitch-and-toss
a game of skill and chance in which the player who pitches a coin nearest to a mark has the first chance to toss all the coins, winning those that land heads up
pitch inspection
in inclement weather , a pre-match inspection of the playing surface in order to determine whether it is in good enough condition for the match to go ahead
all-weather pitch
A pitch is an area of ground that is marked out and used for playing a game such as football, cricket , or hockey .
cyclic pitch lever
a lever in a helicopter to change the angle of attack of individual rotor blades , causing the helicopter to move forwards , backwards , or sideways
international pitch
the frequency of 435 hertz assigned to the A above middle C, widely used until 1939
make a pitch for
to give verbal support to
pitch-cone angle
(in a bevel gear ) the apex angle of the truncated cone ( pitch cone) which forms the reference surface on which the teeth of a bevel gear are cut