pitch
pronunciation
How to pronounce pitch in British English:
UK [pɪtʃ]
How to pronounce pitch in American English:
US [pɪtʃ]
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- Noun:
- the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration
- (baseball) the throwing of a baseball by a pitcher to a batter
- a vendor's position (especially on the sidewalk)
- promotion by means of an argument and demonstration
- degree of deviation from a horizontal plane
- any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue
- a high approach shot in golf
- an all-fours game in which the first card led is a trump
- abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance)
- the action or manner of throwing something
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- Verb:
- throw or toss with a light motion
- move abruptly
- fall or plunge forward
- set to a certain pitch
- sell or offer for sale from place to place
- be at an angle
- heel over
- erect and fasten
- throw or hurl from the mound to the batter, as in baseball
- hit (a golf ball) in a high arc with a backspin
- lead (a card) and establish the trump suit
- set the level or character of
Word Origin
- pitch (n.2)
- "resinous substance, wood tar," late 12c., pich, from Old English pic "pitch," from a Germanic borrowing (Old Saxon and Old Frisian pik, Middle Dutch pik, Dutch pek, Old High German pek, German Pech, Old Norse bik) of Latin pix (genitive picis) "pitch," which according to Watkins is from a PIE root *pik- "pitch" (cognates: Greek pissa, Lithuanian pikis, Old Church Slavonic piklu "pitch"), but according to Pokorny this is from the same PIE root as pine (n.). The English word was applied to pine resins from late 14c. Pitch-black is attested from 1590s; pitch-dark from 1680s.
- pitch (v.1)
- c. 1200, "to thrust in, fasten, settle," probably from an unrecorded Old English *piccean, related to prick (v.). The original past tense was pight. Sense of "set upright," as in pitch a tent (late 13c.), is from notion of "driving in" the pegs. Meaning to incline forward and downward" is from 1510s. Meaning "throw (a ball)" evolved late 14c. from that of "hit the mark." Musical sense is from 1670s. Of ships, "to plunge" in the waves, 1620s. To pitch in "work vigorously" is from 1847, perhaps from farm labor. Related: Pitched; pitching.
- pitch (n.1)
- 1520s, "something that is pitched," from pitch (v.1). Meaning "act of throwing" is attested from 1833. Meaning "act of plunging headfirst" is from 1762; sense of "slope, degree, inclination" is from 1540s; musical sense is from 1590s; but the connection of these is obscure. Sales pitch in the modern commercial advertising sense is from 1943, American English, perhaps from the baseball sense.
- pitch (v.2)
- "to cover with pitch," Old English pician, from the source of pitch (n.2).
Example
- 1. And remember not to go for too blatant a sales pitch .
- 2. Are you ready for your 30-second pitch ?
- 3. Her frank pitch focused on human plumbing .
- 4. Possibilities for their function range from insulating our eyes to changing the pitch and tone of our voice .
- 5. In baseball , what kind of pitch has virtually no spin ?