Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PITCH, v.t. [formerly pight; W. piciaw, to dart, from pig, a point, a pike; D. pikken, to peck, to pick, to pitch; G. pichen; Fr. ficher; Arm. ficha; coinciding with L. figo, to fix, and uniting pike, pique with fix, Sp. picar, It. piccare, to prick or sting.]

1. To throw or thrust, and primarily, to thrust a long or pointed object; hence, to fix; to plant; to set; as, to pitch a tent or pavilion, that is, to set the stakes. – Dryden.
2. To throw at a point; as, to pitch quoits.
3. To throw headlong; as, to pitch one in the mire or down a precipice.
4. To throw with a fork; as, to pitch hay or sheaves of corn.
5. To regulate or set the key-note of a tune in music.
6. To set in array; to marshal or arrange in order; used chiefly in the participle; as, a pitched battle.
7. [from pitch.] To smear or pay over with pitch; as, to pitch the seams of a ship.