a container, usually with a handle and spout or lip, for holding and pouring liquids.
Botany.
a pitcherlike modification of the leaf of certain plants.
an ascidium.
a person who pitches.
Baseball. the player who throws the ball to the opposing batter.
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.
sett.
a large jug, usually rounded with a narrow neck and often of earthenware, used mainly for holding water
botany any of the urn-shaped leaves of the pitcher plant
baseball the player on the fielding team who pitches the ball to the batter
a granite stone or sett used in paving
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English picher, from Old French pichier, from Medieval Latin picārium, variant of bicārium beaker
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
USC failed to capitalize on a heroic start from pitcher Andrew Johnson, who gave up seven hits and two earned runs while striking out four and walking two over 7⅔ innings.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
Pages drove in the first two runs by crushing a center-cut changeup from Angels starting pitcher Jack Kochanowicz over the left-field wall.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
Utility, Lily Hauser, Murrieta Mesa Sr.: The Arizona commit batted .542 with 52 hits and was 17-0 as a pitcher with a 0.25 ERA.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
His tally of 77 pitches at 102 mph or harder is nearly as many as every other pitcher in MLB has thrown this year combined.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Time seemed to slow down as the Jupiters’ pitcher got ready.
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
