hitch

See also: Hitch

English
A hitch (knot that attaches to an object)

Etymology

Probably from Middle English hicchen, hytchen, icchen (“to move; to move as with a jerk”), of obscure origin. Lacks cognates in other languages. Compare itch, hike.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /hɪt͡ʃ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪtʃ

Noun

hitch (plural hitches)

  1. A sudden pull.
  2. Any of various knots used to attach a rope to an object other than another rope.[1]
  3. A fastener or connection point, as for a trailer.
    His truck sported a heavy-duty hitch for his boat.
  4. (informal) A problem, delay or source of difficulty.
    The banquet went off without a hitch ― The banquet went smoothly.
    • 1961 July, “Glasgow emergency - the restoration of Clydeside steam suburban services”, in Trains Illustrated, page 432:
      The service operated according to plan on the Monday morning with only a few hitches.
    • 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110:
      Over the next week, the hitch in my dad's stride eased a bit. But we'd run out of things to talk about.
  5. A hidden or unfavorable condition or element.
    Synonym: catch
    The deal sounds too good to be true. What's the hitch?
  6. (military, slang) A period of time spent in the military.
    She served two hitches in Vietnam.
    • 2004, June 3, Stephen J. Hedges & Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune; Orlando Sentinel; page pg. A.1
      U.S. TROOPS FACE LONGER ARMY HITCH; SOLDIERS BOUND FOR IRAQ, ... WILL BE RETAINED
  7. A large Californian minnow, Lavinia exilicauda.
  8. (mining) A hole cut into the wall of a mine on which timbers are rested.
    • 1879, William Bailes, Student's Guide to the Principles of Coal & Metal Mining, page 17:
      An upcast fault is when the seam is thrown up; to counteract this a "canch" of top stone must be taken down outbye over from the fault, and a "canch" of bottom stone taken up inbye over from the fault, then level up to the bottom of your "canch" at the foreside of the hitch outbye over until you have a regular gradient to the seam on the hitch.
    • 1897, Great Britain. Mines Department, Mines and Quarries. Reports ... for the Newcastle District (No. 3) (page 32)
      A coal cutter and conveyor is used along the face, and after each cut the hitch had to be crossed at a new point.

Hyponyms

Derived terms
many are hyponyms too (unsorted)

Translations

Verb

hitch (third-person singular simple present hitches, present participle hitching, simple past and past participle hitched)

  1. (transitive) To pull with a jerk.
    She hitched her jeans up and then tightened her belt.
  2. (transitive) To attach, tie or fasten.
    Synonyms: affix, join, put together; see also Thesaurus:join
    He hitched the bedroll to his backpack and went camping.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.
    • 2020 December 3, Cade Metz, Daisuke Wakabayashi, “Google Researcher Says She Was Fired Over Paper Highlighting Bias in A.I.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      The company has hitched its future to artificial intelligence — whether with its voice-enabled digital assistant or its automated placement of advertising for marketers — as the breakthrough technology to make the next generation of services and devices smarter and more capable.
  3. (informal) To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.
    Synonyms: splice, wed; see also Thesaurus:marry
  4. (informal, transitive) Clipping of hitchhike, to thumb a ride.
    to hitch a ride
  5. (intransitive) To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, →OCLC:
      atoms […] which at length hitched together
  6. (intransitive) To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded.
    Frank’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw the knife being pointed at him.
  7. (intransitive, UK) To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.
    • 1686, London Gazette:
      Stolen […] A brown Gelding […] all his paces, and hitches a little in his pace.

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. Knots and Splices by Cyrus L Day, Adlard Coles Nautical, 2001

Further reading
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