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.
Jack Pitcher is a reporter in New York covering financial markets and the asset management industry for The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
Served Vacuum Insulated Pitcher – Lukewarm drinks are nowhere to be found when you use the Served vacuum insulated pitcher.
From Salon • Nov. 20, 2025
Pitcher José Berríos, outfielder Anthony Santander and closer Jeff Hoffman climbed aboard for a combined $256.5 million.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025
Pitcher Gabriela Uribe started the game with three scoreless innings and ended up finishing.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 26, 2025
Ma fixed pots and scythes and rakes and picks for eggs or some such, took what we needed, then traded the rest to Ralph Pitcher for store credit at the mercantile.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
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.
