Definition of 'pitch'
Word forms: pitches plural3rd person singular present tense, pitching present participle, pitched past tense past participle
1. transitive verb
If you pitch something somewhere, you throw it with some force, usually aiming it carefully.
2. transitive verb
3. transitive verb/intransitive verb
To pitch somewhere means to fall forward suddenly and with a lot of force.
4. transitive verb
5. uncountable noun
The pitch of a sound is how high or low it is.
6. transitive verb [usu passive]
7. See also high-pitched
8. transitive verb
9. singular noun
If something such as a feeling or a situation rises to a high pitch, it rises to a high level.
10. transitive verb
If someone pitches an idea for something such as a new product, they try to persuade people to accept the idea.
11. countable noun
12.
13. See also sales pitch
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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pitch
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Video: pronunciation of
pitch
American English pronunciation
British English pronunciation
Word Frequency
pitch in American English 1
(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
5.
to set at a certain point, degree, level, etc
He pitched his hopes too high
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
10. informal
to pitch breakfast foods at a sales convention
11. informal
12.
to cause to pitch
13. obsolete
to set in order; to arrange, as a field of battle
intransitive verb
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
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
SYNONYMS 3. See throw.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
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
35.
act or manner of pitching
36.
a throw or toss
37. Baseball
the serving of the ball to the batter by the pitcher, usually preceded by a windup
or stretch
38.
a pitching movement or forward plunge, as of a ship
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
b.
a specific plan of action; angle
to tackle a problem again, using a new pitch
44.
46. Aeronautics
a.
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.
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)
53. (of typewriter type)
a unit of measurement indicating the number of characters to a horizontal inch
Pica is a 10-pitch type
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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.]Word Frequency
pitch in American English 2
(pɪtʃ)
noun
1.
2.
any of certain bitumens, as asphalt
mineral pitch
3.
any of various resins
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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]Word Frequency
pitch in British English 1
verb
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
8. (intransitive)
to fall forwards or downwards
10. cricket
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)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
15. baseball
17. See in there pitching
18. See pitch a tale
noun
19.
the degree of elevation or depression
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.
26.
the pitching motion of a ship, missile, etc
28.
the distance between the back rest of a seat in a passenger aircraft and the back
of 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 pitch31. geology
32. another name for seven-up
33.
the act or manner of pitching a ball, as in cricket
36. mainly British
(in many sports) the field of play
39. See queer someone's pitch
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C13 picchen; possibly related to pick1Word Frequency
pitch in British English 2
noun
1. 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 substances
so that they are incompletely carbonized
verb
5. (transitive)
to apply pitch to (something)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English pic, from Latin pixExamples of 'pitch' in a sentence
pitch
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In other languages
pitch
British English: pitch
/pɪtʃ/ NOUN
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 /ˈfild/ 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
- 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 /ˈpɪtʃ/ 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
- 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 /ˈpɪtʃ/
- 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
- Spanish: lanzar
- Swedish: kasta
- Thai: ขว้าง
- Turkish: fırlatmak
- Ukrainian: метати
- Vietnamese: ném
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Definition of pitch from the Collins English Dictionary
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