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pitch

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈpɪtʃ// UK //pˈɪtʃ// pitch Archaic Dialect General-service Slang

n. A talk or presentation you give to persuade someone to do something, like buy a product or support an idea.

n. A spoken or written presentation intended to persuade someone to buy a product, support an idea, or make a business deal.


SIMPLE

She gives a great sales pitch.

CONTEXTUAL

The startup founder prepared her pitch for the investors, hoping to get funding for her new app.

COMPLEX

His pitch, a carefully constructed narrative of personal struggle and triumph, was designed not just to sell a product but to win the hearts and minds of the entire board.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English picche, piche, pich, from Old English piċ, from Proto-West Germanic *pik, from Latin pix. Cognate with Ancient Greek πίσσα (píssa, “pitch, tar”), Latin pīnus (“pine”). More at pine. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pik (“pitch, tar”), Dutch pek (“pitch, tar”), German Low German Pick (“pitch, tar”), German Pech (“pitch, tar”), Catalan pega (“pitch”), Spanish pegar (“to stick, glue”), Franco-Provençal pouatche (“sap from a pine”) and French poix (“sap”). The adjective is probably back-formed from pitch-black, reinterpreting "pitch" as meaning "intense(ly)".

Etymology 2

From Middle English picchen, pycchen (“to thrust in, fasten, settle”), from Old English piċċan, from Proto-West Germanic pikkijan, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn (“to pick, peck”), whence Middle English pikken, picken (“to pick, pierce”), modern English pick.

Etymology 3

Unknown. Perhaps from the above sense of "inclination", "level", or "degree", or influenced by it.

Usage

Commonly collocates with verbs like 'make', 'give', or 'deliver', and takes the preposition 'for' to specify the goal (e.g., 'a pitch for funding').

Idioms4 entries

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