Pitch — Defs

01 n. 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…

1.
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.
“He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith.” — Ecclus. xiii. 1.
2.
See Pitchstone.(Geol.) See: Pitchstone

Phrases & compounds

Amboyna pitch — the resin of Dammara australis. See Kauri.

Burgundy pitch — See under Burgundy.

Canada pitch — the resinous exudation of the hemlock tree (Abies Canadensis); hemlock gum.

Jew's pitch — bitumen.

Mineral pitch — See Bitumen and Asphalt.

Pitch coal — bituminous coal.

Pitch peat — a black homogeneous peat, with a waxy luster.

Pitch pine — any one of several species of pine, yielding pitch, esp. the Pinus rigida of North America.

02 v. t. To cover over or smear with pitch.

imp. & p. p. Pitched; p. pr. & vb. n. Pitching

1.
To cover over or smear with pitch.
2.
Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.
“The welkin pitched with sullen could.” — Addison.

03 v. t. 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.

1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway.
4.
To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune.
5.
To set or fix, as a price or value.[Obs.]

Phrases & compounds

Pitched battle — a general battle; a battle in which the hostile forces have fixed positions; -- in distinction from a skirmish.

To pitch into — to attack; to assault; to abuse.

04 v. i. To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.

1.
To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.
2.
To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight.
“The tree whereon they [the bees] pitch.” — Mortimer.
3.
To fix one's choise; -- with on or upon.
“Pitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the more easy.” — Tillotson.
4.
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.

Phrases & compounds

Pitch and pay — an old aphorism which inculcates ready-money payment, or payment on delivery of goods.

05 n. A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as, a good pitch in quoits.

1.
A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as, a good pitch in quoits.
2.
That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.(Cricket)
3.
A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.
“Driven headlong from the pitch of heaven, down Into this deep.” — Milton.

“Enterprises of great pitch and moment.” — Shak.

“To lowest pitch of abject fortune.” — Milton.

“He lived when learning was at its highest pitch.” — Addison.

“The exact pitch, or limits, where temperance ends.” — Sharp.
4.
Height; stature.[Obs.]
5.
A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.
6.
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.
7.
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.(Mus.)
8.
The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.(Mining)
9.
The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; -- called also circular pitch.(Mech.)
10.
The distance between symmetrically arranged or corresponding parts of an armature, measured along a line, called the pitch line, drawn around its length. Sometimes half of this distance is called the pitch.(Elec.)

Phrases & compounds

Pitch and toss — a game played by tossing up a coin, and calling “Heads or tails;”

To play pitch and toss with (anything) — to be careless or trust to luck about it.

Pitch farthing — See Chuck farthing, under 5th Chuck.

Concert pitch — the standard of pitch used by orchestras, as in concerts, etc.

Diametral pitch — the distance which bears the same relation to the pitch proper, or circular pitch, that the diameter of a circle bears to its circumference; it is sometimes described by the number expressing the quotient obtained by dividing the number of teeth in a wheel by the diameter of its pitch circle in inches; as, 4 pitch, 8 pitch, etc.

Pitch chain — a chain, as one made of metallic plates, adapted for working with a sprocket wheel.

Pitch line — an ideal line, in a toothed gear or rack, bearing such a relation to a corresponding line in another gear, with which the former works, that the two lines will have a common velocity as in rolling contact; it usually cuts the teeth at about the middle of their height, and, in a circular gear, is a circle concentric with the axis of the gear; the line, or circle, on which the pitch of teeth is measured.

Pitch of a roof — the inclination or slope of the sides expressed by the height in parts of the span; as, one half pitch; whole pitch; or by the height in parts of the half span, especially among engineers; or by degrees, as a pitch of 30°, of 45°, etc.; or by the rise and run, that is, the ratio of the height to the half span; as, a pitch of six rise to ten run. Equilateral pitch is where the two sloping sides with the span form an equilateral triangle.

Pitch of a plane — the slant of the cutting iron.

Pitch of poles — the distance between a pair of poles of opposite sign.

Pitch pipe — a wind instrument used by choristers in regulating the pitch of a tune.

Pitch point — the point of contact of the pitch lines of two gears, or of a rack and pinion, which work together.