Definition of "hitch"

hitch

/hɪt͡ʃ/

noun
plural hitches
1. A sudden pull.
2. Any of various knots used to attach a rope to an object other than another rope.
3. A fastener or connection point, as for a trailer.
4. (informal) A problem, delay or source of difficulty.
  Quotations
  The service operated according to plan on the Monday morning with only a few hitches.
  1961 July, “Glasgow emergency - the restoration of Clydeside steam suburban services”, in Trains Illustrated, page 432
  Over the next week, the hitch in my dad's stride eased a bit. But we'd run out of things to talk about.
  2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, page 110
5. A hidden or unfavorable condition or element.
6. (military, slang) A period of time spent in the military.
  Quotations
  U.S. TROOPS FACE LONGER ARMY HITCH; SOLDIERS BOUND FOR IRAQ, ... WILL BE RETAINED
  2004, June 3, Stephen J. Hedges & Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune; Orlando Sentinel; page pg. A.1
7. A large Californian minnow, Lavinia exilicauda.
8. (mining) A hole cut into the wall of a mine on which timbers are rested.
  Quotations
  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.
  1879, William Bailes, Student's Guide to the Principles of Coal & Metal Mining, page 17
  A coal cutter and conveyor is used along the face, and after each cut the hitch had to be crossed at a new point.
  1897, Great Britain. Mines Department, Mines and Quarries. Reports ... for the Newcastle District (No. 3) (page 32)
verb
third-person singular simple present hitches, present participle hitching, simple past and past participle hitched
1. (transitive) To pull with a jerk.
2. (transitive) To attach, tie or fasten.
  Quotations
  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.
  1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
  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.
  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
3. (informal) To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.
4. (informal, transitive) Clipping of hitchhike, to thumb a ride.
5. (intransitive) To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.
  Quotations
  atoms […] which at length hitched together
  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
6. (intransitive) To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded.
  Quotations
  1733–1737, Alexander Pope, [Imitations of Horace], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley [et al.]
  To ease themselves […] by hitching into another place.The spelling has been modernized.
  1655, Thomas Fuller, edited by James Nichols, The Church History of Britain, […], new edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837
7. (intransitive, UK) To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.
  Quotations
  Stolen […] A brown Gelding […] all his paces, and hitches a little in his pace.
  1686, London Gazette

Definition of "hitch"

hitch

noun

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verb

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