pitcher

¹

[pich-er]

noun

1. a container, usually with a handle and spout or lip, for holding and pouring liquids.

2. Botany.

   1. a pitcherlike modification of the leaf of certain plants.

   2. an ascidium.

pitcher

²

[pich-er]

noun

1. a person who pitches.

2. Baseball.,  the player who throws the ball to the opposing batter.

3. Also called number seven iron. Golf.,  a club with an iron head the face of which has more slope than a mashie but less slope than a pitching niblick.

4. sett.

Pitcher

³

[pich-er]

noun

1. Molly Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, 1754–1832, American Revolutionary heroine.

pitcher

¹

/ ˈpɪtʃə /

noun

1. a large jug, usually rounded with a narrow neck and often of earthenware, used mainly for holding water

2. botany any of the urn-shaped leaves of the pitcher plant

pitcher

²

/ ˈpɪtʃə /

noun

1. baseball the player on the fielding team who pitches the ball to the batter

2. a granite stone or sett used in paving

Other Word Forms

• pitcherlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pitcher¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English picher, from Old French pichier, from Medieval Latin picārium, variant of bicārium beaker

Origin of pitcher²

First recorded in 1700–10; pitch ¹ + -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pitcher¹

C13: from Old French pichier, from Medieval Latin picārium, variant of bicārium _beaker

Idioms and Phrases

see little pitchers have big ears.

Example Sentences

He became the first pitcher to rattle off back-to-back complete games in the playoffs since 2001.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Manager Dave Roberts had the same thought, saying Yamamoto would be the only pitcher unavailable in Game 7.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Credit to him, man. Every single move he did this postseason was incredible,” said Tyler Glasnow, one of four starting pitchers Roberts used in relief Saturday.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Normally, elite pitchers are granted several days' rest after seeing significant duty -- a reflection of the extraordinary stresses and strains that the craft can place on the human body.

Read more on Barron's

The team’s victory on Saturday night also happened on Fernando Valenzuela’s birthday, the city’s beloved left-handed pitcher who died last year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ace 
• baseball player www.thesaurus.com
• reliever