▪ I. pitch-hole1
[f. pitch v.1 + hole n.]
1. A hole into which something pitches or is pitched; an opening in the wall of a barn, etc. through which corn or hay is pitched.
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 47 A man will unload nearly two loads of grain drawn into the barn and unloaded upon the mow, while he could unload one at a pitch-hole. 1887 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 273 You have passed through a ‘pitch-hole’, the toboggan rises high in the air. |
2. N. Amer. A defect in a road or trail; a pot-hole.
| 1874 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. II. 659 The highways leading to our larger villages..are frequently so full of pitchholes or ‘cahoos’ as to render them totally unfit for travel. 1890 Harper's Mag. Oct. 657/2 The highway was frequently interrupted by ‘pitch holes’. 1936 A. F. Cross Cross Roads (ed. 2) 106 Charlie's horses jogged on with us..into pitch holes that jarred one's innards terribly. 1962 D. J. Dickie Great Golden Plain 288 The cat train rocks and plunges over the hummocks and pitch holes in the ice and snow roads. |
▪ II. ˈpitch-hole2
[f. pitch n.1 + hole n.]
A hole or pit containing ‘pitch’ or bitumen.
| 1900 Westm. Gaz. 21 July 3/1 The wonderful pitch-hole..becomes a lively volcano. |