Word Definition

Pitch

  1. A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.
  2. To plunge or fall; esp., to fall forward; to decline or slope; as, to pitch from a precipice; the vessel pitches in a heavy sea; the field pitches toward the east.
  3. The length, measured along the axis, of a complete turn of the thread of a screw, or of the helical lines of the blades of a screw propeller.
  4. Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.
  5. The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; -- called also circular pitch.
  6. To fix one's choise; -- with on or upon.
  7. To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight.
  8. The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.
  9. The relative acuteness or gravity of a tone, determined by the number of vibrations which produce it; the place of any tone upon a scale of high and low.
  10. That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.
  11. To set or fix, as a price or value.
  12. To thrust or plant in the ground, as stakes or poles; hence, to fix firmly, as by means of poles; to establish; to arrange; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp.
  13. To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway.
  14. A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as, a good pitch in quoits.
  15. To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball.
  16. Height; stature.
  17. To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.
  18. To cover over or smear with pitch.
  19. To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune.
  20. A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.
  21. The distance between the centers of holes, as of rivet holes in boiler plates.
  22. The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant; as, a steep pitch in the road; the pitch of a roof.
  23. A thick, black, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar. It is used in calking the seams of ships; also in coating rope, canvas, wood, ironwork, etc., to preserve them.