pitch1

noun

• 1the 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 pitchSee also concert pitch.

• 2the steepness of a slope, especially of a roof.
• Climbing a section of a climb, especially a steep one.
• the height to which a hawk soars before swooping on its prey.

• 3 [in singular] 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.
• Footballshort for pitchout (sense 2).

• 5British a playing field.
• Cricket the strip of ground between the two sets of stumps.

• 6a form of words used when trying to persuade someone to buy or accept something:a good sales pitch

• 7a swaying or oscillation of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of motion.

• 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.

verb

• 1 [with object] Baseball throw (the ball) for the batter to try to hit.
• [no object] Baseball be a pitcher:she pitched in a minor-league game [with object]:he pitched the entire game
• Golf hit (the ball) onto the green with a pitch shot.
• [no object] Golf (of the ball) strike the ground in a particular spot.

• 2 [with object] throw or fling roughly or casually:he crumpled the page up and pitched it into the fireplace
• [no object] fall heavily, especially headlong:she pitched forward into blackness

• 3 [with object] 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 [no object] make a bid to obtain a contract or other business:they were pitching for an account

• 5 [with object] set up and fix in a definite position:we pitched camp for the night

• 6 [no object] (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 [with object] cause (a roof) to slope downward from the ridge:the roof was pitched at an angle of 75 degrees (as adjective pitched)a pitched roof
• [no object] slope downward:the ravine pitches down to the creek