Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Hitch

Hitch

(hĭch)
,
Verb.
T.
[Cf. Scot.
hitch
a motion by a jerk, and
hatch
,
hotch
, to move by jerks, also Prov. G.
hiksen
, G.
hinken
, to limp, hobble; or E.
hiccough
; or possibly akin to E.
hook
.]
1.
To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.
Atoms . . . which at length
hitched
together.
South.
2.
To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; – said of something obstructed or impeded.
Slides into verse, and
hitches
in a rhyme.
Pope.
To ease themselves . . . by
hitching
into another place.
Fuller.
2.
To move with hitches;
as, he
hitched
his chair nearer
.
To hitch up
.
(a)
To fasten up.
(b)
To pull or raise with a jerk; as, a sailor hitches up his trousers.
(c)
To attach, as a horse, to a vehicle; as, hitch up the gray mare.
[Colloq.]

Hitch

,
Noun.
1.
A catch; anything that holds, as a hook; an impediment; an obstacle; an entanglement.
2.
The act of catching, as on a hook, etc.
3.
A stop or sudden halt; a stoppage; an impediment; a temporary obstruction; an obstacle;
as, a
hitch
in one’s progress or utterance; a
hitch
in the performance.
4.
A sudden movement or pull; a pull up;
as, the sailor gave his trousers a
hitch
.
5.
(Naut.)
A knot or noose in a rope which can be readily undone; – intended for a temporary fastening;
as, a half
hitch
; a clove
hitch
; a timber
hitch
, etc.
6.
(Geol.)
A small dislocation of a bed or vein.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hitch

HITCH

,
Verb.
T.
To hook; to catch by a hook; as, to hitch a bridle.
1.
To fasten by hitching; as, to hitch a horse by a bridle, or to hitch him to a post.

HITCH

,
Noun.
A catch; any thing that holds, as a hook; an impediment.
1.
The act of catching, as on a hook, &c.
2.
In seamen's language, a knot or noose in a rope for fastening it to a ring or other object; as a clove hitch; a timber hitch, &c.
3.
A stop or sudden halt in walking or moving.

Definition 2024


Hitch

Hitch

See also: hitch

English

Proper noun

Hitch

  1. A surname.

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Hitch

  1. (informal) Alfred Hitchcock

hitch

hitch

See also: Hitch

English

Noun

A hitch (knot that attaches to an object)

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]. See List of hitch knots in Wikipedia.
  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.")
  5. A hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch.
    The deal sounds too good to be true. What's the hitch?
  6. A period of time. Most often refers to time spent in the military.
    She served two hitches in Vietnam.
    U.S. TROOPS FACE LONGER ARMY HITCH ; SOLDIERS BOUND FOR IRAQ, ... WILL BE RETAINED
    Stephen J. Hedges & Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune; Orlando Sentinel; Jun 3, 2004; pg. A.1;

Synonyms

Derived terms

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.
    He hitched the bedroll to his backpack and went camping.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      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.
  3. (informal) To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.
  4. (informal, transitive) contraction 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.
    • South
      atoms [] which at length hitched together
  6. (intransitive) To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded.
    • Alexander Pope
      Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme.
    • Fuller
      To ease themselves [] by hitching into another place.
  7. (Britain) To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References

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