- hitch
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hitch1
—hitcher, n./hich/, v.t.1. to fasten or tie, esp. temporarily, by means of a hook, rope, strap, etc.; tether: Steve hitched the horse to one of the posts.2. to harness (an animal) to a vehicle (often fol. by up).3. to raise with jerks (usually fol. by up); hike up: to hitch up one's trousers.4. to move or draw (something) with a jerk.5. Slang. to bind by marriage vows; unite in marriage; marry: They got hitched in '79.6. to catch, as on a projection; snag: He hitched his jeans on a nail and tore them.v.i.7. to stick, as when caught.8. to fasten oneself or itself to something (often fol. by on).9. to move roughly or jerkily: The old buggy hitched along.10. to hobble or limp.11. hitch up, to harness an animal to a wagon, carriage, or the like.n.12. the act or fact of fastening, as to something, esp. temporarily.13. any of various knots or loops made to attach a rope to something in such a way as to be readily loosened. Cf. bend1 (def. 18).14. Mil. Slang. a period of military service: a three-year hitch in the Navy.15. an unexpected difficulty, obstacle, delay, etc.: a hitch in our plans for the picnic.16. a hitching movement; jerk or pull.17. a hitching gait; a hobble or limp.18. a fastening that joins a movable tool to the mechanism that pulls it.19. Mining.a. a fault having a throw less than the thickness of a coal seam being mined.b. a notch cut in a wall or the like to hold the end of a stull or other timber.[1400-50; 1840-50 for def. 5; late ME hytchen, of obscure orig.]Ant. 1. loose, loosen.hitch2/hich/, n.a minnow, Lavinia exilicauda, inhabiting streams in the area of San Francisco and the Sacramento River basin.[orig. uncert.]hitch3—hitcher, n./hich/, v.i., v.t., n. Informal.hitchhike.[1865-70; by shortening]
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Universalium. 2010.
