pitch

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the action or manner of throwing something

   Their pitch fell short and their hat landed on the floor.

2. 2
   noun

   abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance)

   the pitching and tossing was quite exciting

3. 3
   noun

   degree of deviation from a horizontal plane

   the roof had a steep pitch

4. 4
   noun

   a vendor's position, especially on the sidewalk

   They were employed to see that the paper's news pitches were not trespassed upon by rival vendors.

5. 5
   verb

   to set the level or character of

   They pitched their speech to the teenagers in the audience.

6. 6
   verb

   set to a certain pitch

   They pitched their voice very low, to harmonize with the rest of the group.

7. 7
   verb

   to hit a golf ball in a high arc with a backspin

   I was stuck in a sand trap, so I pitched the ball onto the green.

8. 8
   verb

   throw or hurl from the mound to the batter, as in baseball

   The pitcher delivered the ball

Etymology

From Middle English picche, piche, pich, from Old English piċ, from Proto-West Germanic *pik, from Latin pix. Cognate with Ancient Greek πίσσα (píssa, “pitch, tar”), Latin pīnus (“pine”). More at pine. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pik (“pitch, tar”), Dutch pek (“pitch, tar”), German Low German Pick (“pitch, tar”), German Pech (“pitch, tar”), Catalan pega (“pitch”), Spanish pegar (“to stick, glue”), Franco-Provençal pouatche (“sap from a pine”) and French poix (“sap”). The adjective is probably back-formed from pitch-black, reinterpreting "pitch" as meaning "intense(ly)".