Fine Dictionary

pitcher

ˈpɪʧər
WordNet
Egg-shaped pitcher with a wide neck
Egg-shaped pitcher with a wide neck
Egg-shaped jug of quartz chips with a wide neck, covered with a turquoise glaze. Engraved decoration on the shoulder.
  1. (n) pitcher
    the position on a baseball team of the player who throws the ball for a batter to try to hit "he has played every position except pitcher","they have a southpaw on the mound"
  2. (n) pitcher
    an open vessel with a handle and a spout for pouring
  3. (n) pitcher
    (baseball) the person who does the pitching "our pitcher has a sore arm"
  4. (n) pitcher
    (botany) a leaf that that is modified in such a way as to resemble a pitcher or ewer
  5. (n) pitcher
    the quantity contained in a pitcher
Illustrations
A pipe-smoking man in an interior next to a barrel with a pitcher.
A pipe-smoking man in an interior next to a barrel with a pitcher.
Still life with strawberries in a white bowl and a pitcher with leaves on a table.
Still life with strawberries in a white bowl and a pitcher with leaves on a table.
Group of people at the table. Mary points out five empty pitchers to Christ.
Group of people at the table. Mary points out five empty pitchers to Christ.
Earthenware jug with a spherical body and a handle, decorated with flower scrolls and medallions with dots in relief without glaze.
Jug or pitcher with embossed flower tendrils
Fragment of a stoneware jug (schnelle). The shard in relief depicts the blind Paul being led into Damascus by a soldier. At the bottom of the scene the letter 'PK'. Below that a box with the caption '[...] NAM IN BI DER [...] DAMS'. Siegburg.
Fragment of a pitcher (schnelle) with the blind Paul
Pottery jug decorated with some engraved lines and indentations. Unglazed.
Pear-shaped pitcher with handle
Allegory of cooperage. A man sits behind a barrel with a pitcher and bread on it and gestures to a man standing in front of him and bending. There is a verse around the round performance. See also Nos. SK-A-4466 and SK-A-4467.
Allegory of cooperage
Jug or pitcher of quartz chips decorated on the belly with blue almond shapes in relief with a spilled glaze. 'Buttons' appliqued on the neck. The spout is modeled in the shape of a woman's head. The pitcher is covered with a transparent turquoise alkali glaze.
Jug or pitcher with relief decoration and spout modeled in the shape of a woman's head
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Interesting fact
The Kool Aid Man used to be known as "Pitcher Man" when he was first introduced in 1975
  1. Pitcher
    A sort of crowbar for digging.
  2. Pitcher
    (Bot) A tubular or cuplike appendage or expansion of the leaves of certain plants.
  3. Pitcher
    A wide-mouthed, deep vessel for holding liquids, with a spout or protruding lip and a handle; a water jug or jar with a large ear or handle.
  4. Pitcher
    One who pitches anything, as hay, quoits, a ball, etc.; specifically Baseball, the player who delivers the ball to the batsman.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Interesting fact
Bullfrog Dietrich of the Chicago White Sox was the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter while wearing eyeglasses. He did it in 1937.
  1. (n) pitcher
    One who pitches, In ball-games, the player who serves the ball to the batsman. See base-ball
  2. (n) pitcher
    In coal-mining, one who attends to loading at the shaft or other place of loading.
  3. (n) pitcher
    A vessel with an open spout and generally with a handle, used for holding water, milk, or other liquid.
  4. (n) pitcher
    In botany, a specially adapted tubular or cupshaped modification of the leaf of certain plants, particularly of the genera Nepenthes and Sarracenia; an ascidium. See ascidium, pitcherplant, Nepenthes, and Sarracenia.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Interesting fact
In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first, and only, home run.
  1. (n) Pitcher
    pich′ėr a vessel for holding water, &c
Quotations
Leo Durocher
You don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow, it may rain.
Leo Durocher
Ernest Hemingway
They can't yank a novelist like they can a pitcher. A novelist has to go the full nine, even if it kills him.
Ernest Hemingway
Idioms

Little pitchers have big ears - (USA) This means that children hear more and understand the world around them better than many adults realize.

Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary OE. picher, OF. pichier, OHG. pehhar, pehhāri,; prob. of the same origin as E. beaker,. Cf. Beaker

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary O. Fr. picher—Low L. picarium, a goblet—Gr. bīkos, a wine-vessel, an Eastern word.

Usage in the news

Former Phillies pitcher Don Carman on dealing. naplesnews.com

Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Don Carman gives his advice to young players for dealing with the media. naplesnews.com

NAPLES — "Nobody promised you easy," Former major-league pitcher Don Carman told members of the Juan Romero Baseball Camp gathered in the bleachers of Fleischmann Park on Friday. naplesnews.com

Aaron Crow, pitcher for the independent Fort Worth Cats. post-gazette.com

Pitchers twirl three more shutouts. forestlaketimes.com

0 Peter Bourjos hits a home run off Minnesota pitcher Scott Baker back in August. latimes.com

White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle admitted it was a working vacation. espn.go.com

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey long tosses during a workout Monday in Cincinnati. hotsr.com

San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, right, speaks to Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey before Game 1 of the National League division baseball series in San Francisco, Saturday, Oct 6, 2012. knoxnews.com

ARLINGTON — Yu Darvish is on stage in the bowels of the ballpark as a battery of cameras lovingly clicks away, capturing the essence of the pitcher sitting behind a table at a news conference. dallasnews.com

The baseball players union warned its members yesterday to be "extremely reluctant" to use products containing ephedra , the substance linked to the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler 18 days ago. nytimes.com

FORT LAUDERDALE — The baseball players' association encouraged players not to use products with ephedra , the herbal supplement linked to the death of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler. usatoday.com

Justin Verlander is essentially the 'perfect' pitcher. macombdaily.com

Giants pitchers excel at 'stealing' strikes. espn.go.com

With the emergence of Valdespin, don't be surprised to see Murphy moved in a deal for a pitcher in the off season. blog.nj.com

Usage in scientific papers

Also, for purposes of illustration, suppose that there are only two players who know how to pitch and that a team without a pitcher always loses.
Random-Turn Hex and other selection games

In the alternating turn game, a captain can always wait to select a pitcher until just after the other captain selects a pitcher.
Random-Turn Hex and other selection games

In the random-turn game, the captains must try to select the pitchers in the opening moves, and there is an even chance the pitchers will end up on the same team.
Random-Turn Hex and other selection games

In general, the coefficien ts E (ωn) are independent of each other only in the limit of large T, i.e < E (ωn )E (ωm )∗ >= 0 for n 6= m (Root & Pitcher 1955).
On the theory of astronomical maser. I. Statistics of maser radiation

Therefore the coefficients E (ωn ) are Gaussian random variables and independent even for finit e values of the interval T (Goldman 1953, Rice 1944, Root & Pitcher 1955).
On the theory of astronomical maser. I. Statistics of maser radiation

Usage in literature

It's like the pitcher and catcher of a baseball battery. "The Radio Boys at the Sending Station" by Allen Chapman

The best pitcher in the world has his off days, and the best pitcher in the world may occasionally be pounded, as Slim Cooney was hit that day. "Baseball Joe in the Big League" by Lester Chadwick

Where am I to get a fresh pitcher instead of this one that you have broken with your foolish tricks? "The Olive Fairy Book" by Various

Return this water to pitcher. "The Home Medical Library, Volume I (of VI)" by Various

The head is held above the pitcher, a towel covering both the head and pitcher to retain the vapor. "The Home Medical Library, Volume II (of VI)" by Various

It was Willard's allotted duty each day to fill a large pitcher from its crystal treasures for use at meals. "Sword and Pen" by John Algernon Owens

I was the house boy, one day, and at dinner time he sent me to the well to get a cool pitcher of water. "Shadow and Light" by Mifflin Wistar Gibbs

Captain D. Le G. Pitcher, of No. "The War in the Air; Vol. 1" by Walter Raleigh

Toinette stood, pitcher in hand, beside the well. "The Children's Book of Christmas Stories" by Various

Miss Fortune took the pitcher and went into the pantry. "The Wide, Wide World" by Susan Warner

Usage in poetry
"Thy truth, alas, Lord, once I spilt:
I thought to bear the pitcher high;
Upon the shining stones of guilt
I slipped, and there the potsherds lie!
Who shall linger, and who be weary?
Wait till the warmth of the blood be sped?
Till the pitcher break or the dead days dreary
Hold but the wraith of a dream that’s fled?
"Oh, Willie, how can I, in this dark well?
I shall drop the brown pitcher if you let go;
The long? roof is murmuring like a sea-shell,
And the shadows are shuddering to and fro."
The lady Mabel rose from her bed,
And walked in the castle hall,
Where the porch through the western turret led
She met with her handmaid small.
"What aileth thee, Margaret?" the lady said,
"Hast let thy pitcher fall?
But sich is fame. Less than a month ago.
The whole thing started with a naggin' tooth.
Now I am famis; an', to tell the truth -
Well, I dunno -
I'd 'ardly like to bet yeh that I don't
Git arst to act in pitchers - but I won't.
The lane is long, some one has said, that never turns again,
And Fate, though fickle, often gives another chance to men;
And Casey smiled; his rugged face no longer wore a frown-
The pitcher who had started all the trouble came to town.