pitch

pitch

I

pitch¹ S3 W3 /pɪtʃ/ noun1.  SPORTS FIELD  [countable] British English a marked out area of ground on which a sport is played
   SYN  field
    football/cricket/rugby etc pitch
    the world-famous Wembley football pitch
    He ran the length of the pitch and scored.
    on the pitch (=playing a sport)
    Jack was on the pitch for his school in the Senior Cup Final.
2.  STRONG FEELINGS/ACTIVITY  [singular, uncountable] a strong level of feeling about something or a high level of an activity or a quality:
    The controversy reached such a pitch (=become so strong) that the paper devoted a whole page to it.
    a pitch of excitement/excellence/perfection etc (=a high level of excitement etc)
    He screamed at her in a pitch of fury.
    The goal roused the crowd to fever pitch (=a very excited level).
3.  MUSIC
  a. [singular, uncountable] how high or low a note or other sound is:
    Ultrasonic waves are at a higher pitch than the human ear can hear.
  b. [uncountable] the ability of a musician to play or sing a note at exactly the correct level:
    She’s got perfect pitch.
4.  PERSUADING  [countable] informal the things someone says to persuade people to buy something, do something, or accept an idea:
    an aggressive salesman with a fast-talking sales pitch
    make a/sb’s pitch (for something) (=try to persuade people to do something)
    He made his strongest pitch yet for standardized testing in schools.
5.  BASEBALL  [countable] a throw of the ball, or a way in which it can be thrown:
    His first pitch was high and wide.
6.  BLACK SUBSTANCE  [uncountable] a black sticky substance that is used on roofs, the bottoms of ships etc to stop water coming through:
    The night was as black as pitch (=very dark). ⇨ pitch-black, pitch-dark
7.  SHIP/AIRCRAFT  [uncountable] an up and down movement of a ship or an aircraft ⇨ roll:
    the pitch and roll of the ship
8.  SLOPE  [singular, uncountable] the degree to which a roof slopes or the sloping part of a roof:
    the steep pitch of the roof
9.  STREET/MARKET  [countable] British English a place in a public area where someone goes to sell things or where an entertainer goes to perform:
    We found the boy at his usual pitch at the bottom of the Acropolis.
⇨ queer sb’s pitch/queer the pitch for somebody at queer³

II

pitch² verb1.  THROW  [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to throw something with a lot of force, often aiming carefully:
    She crumpled up the page and pitched it into the fire.
2.
   BALL GAMES
  a. [intransitive and transitive] to aim and throw a ball in baseball
    pitch to
    Stanton pitched to two batters in the ninth inning.
  b. [intransitive] if a ball pitches in cricket or golf, it hits the ground
  c. [transitive] to hit the ball in a high curve in golf
  d. [transitive] to make the ball hit the ground when you are bowling in cricket
3.  FALL  [I, T always + adv/prep] to fall or be moved suddenly in a particular direction, or to make someone or something do this
    pitch (somebody/something) forward/backward/over etc
    She slipped and pitched forward onto the ground.
    pitch somebody/something into/onto/through etc something
    Without a seat belt, you can easily be pitched right through the windscreen.
4.  SHIP/PLANE  [intransitive] if a ship or an aircraft pitches, it moves up and down in an uncontrolled way with the movement of the water or air ⇨ roll²(4), yaw
5.  SET A LEVEL  [transitive usually passive]
  a. to set a speech, examination, explanation etc at a particular level of difficulty
    pitch something at a high level/the right level etc
    The projects were pitched at a number of different levels.
    Some questions were pitched too high for intermediate students.
  b. British English to set prices at a particular level
    pitch something at something
    Room rates are pitched at £69 for a single.
6.  AIM PRODUCT  [transitive usually passive] to aim a product at a particular type of organization, group of people etc, or to describe it in a particular way, in order to sell it
    pitch something at somebody/something
    The new machine will be pitched at users in the hotel and air reservation business.
    pitch something as something
    It is pitched as a cheaper alternative to other workstations.
7.  BUSINESS DEALS  [intransitive and transitive] informal to try to persuade someone to do business with you, buy something etc
    pitch for business/contracts/custom etc
    Booksellers are keen to pitch for school business.
    pitch to
    For many companies, pitching to investors has become almost a full-time job.
    sales reps pitching new gadgets
8.  VOICE/MUSIC  [transitive always + adverb/preposition] if you pitch your voice or another sound at a particular level, the sound is produced at that level
    pitch something high/low etc
    Her voice is pitched a little too high. ⇨ high-pitched, low-pitched
9. pitch a tent/pitch camp to set up a tent or a camp for a short time:
    Try and pitch your tent on level ground.
10.  SLOPE  [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to slope down
    pitch gently/steeply etc
    The roof pitches sharply to the rear of the house. ⇨ pitched
11. pitch somebody a line American English informal to tell someone a story or give them an excuse that is difficult to believe:
    She pitched me some line about a bomb scare on the metro.
     
pitch in phrasal verb informal
  1. to join others and help with an activity:
    If we all pitch in, we’ll have it finished in no time.
    pitch in with
    Everyone pitched in with efforts to entertain the children.
  2. to join others and pay part of the money towards something:
    They all pitched in and the money was collected within a few days.
  3. British English to start to eat hungrily:
    Pitch in – there’s plenty.
pitch into somebody/something phrasal verb British English informal
  1. to suddenly start criticizing someone or hitting them:
    She pitched into me as soon as I started to speak.
  2. to start doing something, especially quickly and eagerly:
    Rick pitched into decorating the house at once.
pitch up phrasal verb British English spoken
  to arrive somewhere
   SYN  turn up:
    Wait a bit longer – Bill hasn’t pitched up yet.
     

THESAURUS

■ to throw a ball in a sport
   ▪ pass to throw the ball to another member of your team: He passed the ball to Wilkinson, who kicked the ball over the goalposts.
   ▪ pitch to throw the ball to the batter in a game of baseball: Stoddard pitched for the Chicago White Sox.
   ▪ bowl to throw the ball towards the person who is batting in a game of cricket: Harmison bowled superbly and took 5 wickets.