Pitch , n. (Elec.)
The distance between symmetrically arranged or
corresponding parts of
an armature, measured along a line, called the pitch line, drawn around its length. Sometimes half of this
distance is called the pitch.
Pitch of poles (Elec.),
the distance between a pair of poles of
opposite sign.
Pitch , n.
1. A throw;
a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as,
a good pitch in quoits.
Pitch 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 pitch of heaven, down
Into this deep.
Milton.
Enterprises of great pitch and moment.
Shak. 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.
&fist; 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 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.
Pitch , v. 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 (?), v. 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 tune.
5. 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 , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pitched (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Pitching.]
[See
Pitch, n.] 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 (?), n. [OE.
pich, AS. pic, L. pix; akin to Gr. &?;.]
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.
See Bitumen and Asphalt. --
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.
Hear it pronounced