Definition of "pitch" []

• Any of various thick, dark, sticky substances obtained from the distillation residue of coal tar, wood tar, or petroleum and used for waterproofing, roofing, caulking, and paving. (noun)
• Any of various natural bitumens, such as mineral pitch or asphalt. (noun)
• A resin derived from the sap of various coniferous trees, as the pines. (noun)
• To smear or cover with or as if with pitch. (verb-transitive)
• To throw, usually with careful aim. See Synonyms at throw. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "-- To illustrate: If a gear has 40 teeth, and the pitch diameter of the wheel is 4 inches, there are 10 teeth to each inch of the pitch diameter, and the gear is then 10 _diametral pitch_."
• "When two gears of equal size mesh together, the pitch line, or the _pitch circle_, as it is also called, is exactly midway between the centers of the two wheels."
• "The king he is hunting the deer; I am coursing myself: they have pitched a toil; I am toiling in a pitch, —pitch that defiles: defile!"