pitch¹ / pich/ • n. 1. the quality of a sound governed by the rate of vibrations producing it; the degree of highness or lowness of a tone: a car engine seems to change pitch downward as the vehicle passes you. ∎  a standard degree of highness or lowness used in performance: the guitars were strung and tuned to pitch. See also concert pitch.2. the steepness of a slope, esp. of a roof. ∎ Climbing a section of a climb, esp. a steep one. ∎  the height to which a hawk soars before swooping on its prey.3. [in sing.] the level of intensity of something: he brought the machine to a high pitch of development. ∎  (a pitch of) a very high degree of: rousing herself to a pitch of indignation.4. Baseball a legal delivery of the ball by the pitcher. ∎  (also pitch shot) Golf a high approach shot onto the green. ∎  Football short for pitchout sense 2.5. Brit. a playing field. ∎  Cricket the strip of ground between the two sets of stumps.6. a form of words used when trying to persuade someone to buy or accept something: a good sales pitch.7. a swaying or oscillation of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of motion. ∎  the degree of slope or angle, as of a roof.8. technical the distance between successive corresponding points or lines, e.g., between the teeth of a cogwheel. ∎  a measure of the angle of the blades of a screw propeller, equal to the distance forward a blade would move in one revolution if it exerted no thrust on the medium. ∎  the density of typed or printed characters on a line, typically expressed as numbers of characters per inch.• v. 1. [tr.] Baseball throw (the ball) for the batter to try to hit. ∎ Baseball assign (a player) to pitch. ∎  [intr.] be a pitcher: she pitched in a minor-league game | [tr.] he pitched the entire game. ∎  Golf hit (the ball) onto the green with a pitch shot. ∎  [intr.] Golf (of the ball) strike the ground in a particular spot.2. [tr.] throw or fling roughly or casually: he crumpled the page up and pitched it into the fireplace. ∎  [intr.] fall heavily, esp. headlong: she pitched forward into blackness.3. [tr.] set (one's voice or a piece of music) at a particular pitch: you've pitched the melody very high. ∎  express at a particular level of difficulty: he should pitch his talk at a suitable level for the age group. ∎  aim (a product) at a particular section of the market: the machine is being pitched at banks.4. [intr.] make a bid to obtain a contract or other business: they were pitching for an account.5. [tr.] set up and fix in a definite position: we pitched camp for the night.6. [intr.] (of a moving ship, aircraft, or vehicle) rock or oscillate around a lateral axis, so that the front and back move up and down: the little steamer pressed on, pitching gently. ∎  (of a vehicle) move with a vigorous jogging motion: a jeep came pitching down the hill.7. [tr.] cause (a roof) to slope downward from the ridge: the roof was pitched at an angle of 75 degrees | [as adj.] (pitched) a pitched roof. ∎  [intr.] slope downward: the ravine pitches down to the creek. PHRASES: make a pitch make a bid to obtain a contract or other business.PHRASAL VERBS: pitch in inf. vigorously join in to help with a task or activity. ∎  join in a fight or dispute.pitch into inf. vigorously tackle or begin to deal with. ∎  forcefully assault.pitch out throw a pitchout.pitch² • n. a sticky resinous black or dark brown substance that is semiliquid when hot, hard when cold. It is obtained by distilling tar or petroleum and is used for waterproofing. ∎  any of various similar substances, such as asphalt or bitumen. ∎  a sticky resinous sap from a conifer.• v. [tr.] cover, coat, or smear with pitch.

pitch. The location of a sound in the tonal scale, depending on the speed of vibrations from the source of the sound, fast ones producing a high pitch and slow ones a low. The rate of vibration per second is the note's ‘frequency’. By int. agreement of 1939, renewed and extended in 1960, the present-day standard of ‘concert-pitch’ to which instr. are tuned is that in which the A directly above middle C has 440 (double) vibrations per second (440 Hz), which makes middle C 261.6 Hz. This replaced the standard of 435 (diapason normal) fixed in Paris in 1859 and confirmed in Vienna in 1885. Before then, a variety of pitches existed. In Eng. in the 16th cent., domestic kbd. pitch was about 3 semitones lower than today's pitch and the church mus. pitch over 2 semitones higher. Between 1700 and 1850, the note A varied between 415 and 429. Pitch can now be measured electronically, but still the most common way is by a tuning-fork. See A.

PITCH. A term used generally and in PHONETICS for the level of the VOICE. Pitch depends on the frequency with which the vocal cords (or folds) vibrate to produce voice: the more rapidly, the higher the pitch perceived. When voices quaver, there is a fluctuation of pitch, especially in a falsetto (an especially male voice which is unnaturally high), the vocal cords having been greatly contracted. When a voice has a very low pitch, it is said to creak. Creaky voice, common among male RP-speakers, tends to occur at the end of a statement, as the voice falls low. Pitch range refers to the difference between high and low pitch. The greater the range, the greater the impression given of emotion. See ACCENT, TONE.

pitch.
1. Amount of slope given to any part of a roof.

2. Tenacious black resinous substance, hard when cold, becoming a thick viscid semiliquid when heated: it is obtained as a residue from the boiling or distillation of tar. It is used in its melted form to protect external timbers, e.g. clap-boarding or weather-boarding, and, if mixed with ground chalk, sand, and tar, for surfacing roads, etc.

pitch2 †thrust or fix in; fix and erect XIII; set in order or in a fixed place; cast, throw XIV. The ME. conjugation pic(c)he, pihte, (i)piht suggests the existence of an OE. *piċċ(e)an, rel. to picung ‘stigmata’, of unkn. orig.
Hence pitch sb. act of pitching; inclination, slope XV; highest point; position taken up XVI.