Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Pitch
Pitch
,Noun.
[OE.
pich
, AS. pic
, L. pix
; akin to Gr. [GREEK].] 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.
(Geol.)
See
Pitchstone
. 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
. – Pitch coal
(Min.)
, bituminous coal.
– Pitch peat
(Min.)
, a black homogeneous peat, with a waxy luster.
– Pitch pine
(Bot.)
, any one of several species of pine, yielding pitch, esp. the
Pinus rigida
of North America.1.
To cover over or smear with pitch.
Gen. vi. 14.
2.
Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.
The welkin
pitched
with sullen could. Addison.
Pitch
,Verb.
T.
[OE.
picchen
; akin to E. pick
, pike
.] 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.
Knight.
4.
To fix or set the tone of;
as, to
. pitch
a tune5.
To set or fix, as a price or value.
[Obs.]
Shak.
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.
[Slang]
Pitch
,Verb.
I.
1.
To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.
“Laban with his brethren pitched in the Mount of Gilead.” Gen. xxxi. 25.
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.Pitch and pay
, an old aphorism which inculcates ready-money payment, or payment on delivery of goods.
Shak.
Pitch
,Noun.
1.
A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand;
as, a good
. pitch
in quoitsPitch and toss
, a game played by tossing up a coin, and calling “Heads or tails;”
hence: To play pitch and toss with (anything)
, to be careless or trust to luck about it.
“To play pitch and toss with the property of the country.” G. Eliot.
– Pitch farthing
. See
Chuck farthing
, under 5th Chuck
.2.
(Cricket)
That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.
3.
A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.
Driven headlong from the
Into this deep.
pitch
of heaven, downInto this deep.
Milton.
Enterprises of great
pitch
and moment. Shakespeare
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.]
Hudibras.
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.
(Mus.)
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.
☞ Musical tones with reference to absolute pitch, are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet; with reference to relative pitch, in a series of tones called the scale, they are called one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight is also one of a new scale an octave higher, as one is eight of a scale an octave lower.
8.
(Mining)
The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.
9.
(Mech.)
(a)
The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; – called also circular pitch.
(b)
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.
(c)
The distance between the centers of holes, as of rivet holes in boiler plates.
Concert pitch
(Mus.)
, the standard of pitch used by orchestras, as in concerts, etc.
– Diametral pitch
(Gearing)
, 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
, or
Pitch circle
(Gearing)
, 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
(Arch.)
, 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
(Carp.)
, the slant of the cutting iron.
– Pitch of poles
(Elec.)
, 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
(Gearing)
, the point of contact of the pitch lines of two gears, or of a rack and pinion, which work together.
Webster 1828 Edition
Pitch
PITCH
,Noun.
1.
A thick tenacious substance,the juice of a species of pine or fir called abies picea, obtained by incision from the bark of the tree. When melted and pressed in bags of cloth, it is received into barrels. This is white or Burgundy pitch; by mixture with lampblack it is converted into black pitch. When kept long in fusion with vinegar, it becomes dry and brown, and forms colophony. The smoke of pitch condensed forms lampblack.2.
The resin of pine, or turpentine, inspissated; used in caulking ships and paying the sides and bottom.PITCH
,Noun.
1.
Literally, a point; hence, any point or degree of elevation; as a high pitch; lowest pitch. How high a pitch his resolution soars.
Alcibiades was one of the best orators of his age, notwithstanding he lived when learning was at its highest pitch.
2.
Highest rise.3.
Size; stature. So like in person, garb and pitch.
4.
Degree; rate. No pitch of glory from the grave is free.
5.
The point where a declivity begins, or the declivity itself; descent; slope; as the pitch of a hill.6.
The degree of descent or declivity.7.
A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.8.
Degree of elevation of the key-note of a tune or of any note.PITCH
,Verb.
T.
1.
To throw or thrust, and primarily, to thrust a long or pointed object; hence, to fix; to plant; to set; as, to pitch a tent or pavilion, that is, to set the stakes.2.
To throw at a point; as, to pitch quoits.3.
To throw headlong; as, to pitch one in the mire or down a precipice.4.
To throw with a fork; as, to pitch hay or sheaves of corn.5.
To regulate or set the key-note of a tune in music.6.
To set in array; to marshal or arrange in order; used chiefly in the participle; as a pitched battle.7.
[from pitch.] To smear or pay over with pitch; as, to pitch the seams of a ship.PITCH
,Verb.
I.
Take a branch of the tree on which the bees pitch, and wipe the hive.
1.
To fall headlong; as, to pitch from a precipice; to pitch on the head.2.
To plunge; as, to pitch into a river.3.
To fall; to fix choice; with on or upon. Pitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the most easy.
4.
To fix a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp. Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. Gen.31.
5.
In navigation, to rise and fall, as the head and stern of a ship passing over waves.6.
To flow or fall precipitously, as a river. Over this rock, the river pitches in one entire sheet.