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  • pitcher
    pitcher
    noun
    a container, usually with a handle and spout or lip, for holding and pouring liquids.
  • Pitcher
    Pitcher
    noun
    Molly Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, 1754–1832, American Revolutionary heroine.
Synonyms

pitcher

1 American  
[pich-er] / ˈpɪtʃ ər /

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 American  
[pich-er] / ˈpɪtʃ ər /

noun

  1. a person who pitches.

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

  3. Also called number seven ironGolf. 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 American  
[pich-er] / ˈpɪtʃ ər /

noun

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


pitcher 1 British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pitcher 2 British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pitcher Idioms  

Other Word Forms

Etymology

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

Explanation

In baseball or softball, the pitcher is the player who throws the ball to the catcher in an attempt to strike out the batter. Another kind of pitcher is one that holds a liquid, like a pitcher of lemonade. The pitcher is one of the most important players on a team, aiming the pitch so that it stays inside a certain "strike zone," but in a way that entices the batter to swing and miss or not to swing at all. The batter, on the other hand, tries to hit the ball that the pitcher throws, and maybe even to hit a home run. The 18th-century meaning of pitcher was "one who pitches hay into a wagon."

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Vocabulary lists containing pitcher

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Skubal’s status as the only pitcher to try the NanoNeedle didn’t last long.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

He is set to sign a free-agent contract this winter that would make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history—and he knew that a prolonged absence could crater his value.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

And did he deliver with a drive that rolled to the right-field fence off pitcher Hudson December and finally gave the Patriots breathing room.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026

One of his customers is Birmingham sophomore pitcher Carlos Acuna, who’s 11-0 and plays in Saturday’s City Section Open Division championship game against El Camino Real at Dodger Stadium.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026

Over it a baseball card of the first female pitcher in the majors hangs in a plastic mount.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

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