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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

hitch en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Probably from Middle English hicchen, hytchen, icchen (“to move; to move as with a jerk”), of obscure origin. Lacks cognates in other languages. Compare itch, hike.

Meanings

  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.
    • His truck sported a heavy-duty hitch for his boat.
  4. (informal) A problem, delay or source of difficulty.
    • 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, →ISSN, page 110:
    • The banquet went off without a hitch
  5. A hidden or unfavorable condition or element.
    • The deal sounds too good to be true. What's the hitch?
  6. (slang) A period of time spent in the military.
    • She served two hitches in Vietnam.
    • 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. A hole cut into the wall of a mine on which timbers are rested.
    • 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)
    • 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:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
hitches Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

trailer hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · barrel hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitchrack (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitch up (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · magnus hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · becket hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitchless (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · clove hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitch-hike (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · adjustable hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · killick hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · half hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · trucker's hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitchrail (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitch rack (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · killock hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · swab hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · buntline hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · axle hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · figure-eight hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · half-hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · Italian hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · Bachmann hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitch-hiker (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · weaver's hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · Munter hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · anchor hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · double becket hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · friction hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · Blackwall hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · clove-hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · manharness hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · tow hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · cow hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitchy (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · ossel hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · sailor's hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · hitch one's wagon to (many are hyponyms too (unsorted)) · timber hitch (many are hyponyms too (unsorted))

Hyponyms

rolling hitch · tent-line hitch · hitch in one's get-along · Magnus hitch · rigger's hitch · hitch in one's giddy-up · midshipman's hitch · taut-line hitch

Synonyms

catch

Translations (59)

bg дърпане (1. sudden pull) · de Ruck (1. sudden pull) · de Störung (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · fi koukku (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · ru загво́здка (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · hy կապ (2. knot) · mk фи́нта (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · fr hic (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · pdt Hitsch (3. connection point for trailer) · fi vetokoukku (3. connection point for trailer) · fi koukero (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · cs smyčka (2. knot) · fi siansorkka (2. knot) · de Anhängerkupplung (3. connection point for trailer) · it inconveniente (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · de Problem (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · de Haken (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · bg закачване (3. connection point for trailer) · fr défaut (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · it ganci (3. connection point for trailer) · es percance (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · it intoppo (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · fr anicroche (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · cs háček (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · ca enganxall (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · pt engate (3. connection point for trailer) · it gancio (3. connection point for trailer) · mk ја́зол (2. knot) · de Festmacherknoten (2. knot) · he עֶנֶד (2. knot) · ca enganxall (3. connection point for trailer) · fr accroc (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · de Schwierigkeit (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · ru подво́х (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · de Verzögerung (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · cs uzel (2. knot) · mk тешко́тија (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · es enganche (3. connection point for trailer) · fr dispositif m d'attelage (3. connection point for trailer) · it nodo (2. knot) · fi nykäys (1. sudden pull) · mk пре́прека (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · mk повлеку́вање (1. sudden pull) · hi गाँठ (2. knot) · nl trekhaak (3. connection point for trailer) · bg спънка (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · fr hic (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · it nodi (2. knot) · es contratiempo (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · nl steek (2. knot) · nrf clié (2. knot) · gd amaladh (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · el κοτσαδόρος (3. connection point for trailer) · mk пре́чка (4. problem, delay or source of difficulty) · cs nesnáz (5. a hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch) · hy հանգույց (2. knot) · bg възел (2. knot) · fi köytös (2. knot) · fr nœud d'accroche (2. knot)

hitch en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Probably from Middle English hicchen, hytchen, icchen (“to move; to move as with a jerk”), of obscure origin. Lacks cognates in other languages. Compare itch, hike.

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To pull with a jerk.
    • She hitched her jeans up and then tightened her belt.
  2. (transitive) To attach, tie or fasten.
    • 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[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
    • 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, →ISSN:
    • He hitched the bedroll to his backpack and went camping.
  3. (informal) To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.
  4. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, informal, transitive) Clipping of hitchhike, to thumb a ride.
    alt of hitchhike
    • A dog losing the trail on foot in the wilderness is one thing, but a trail that suddenly stops in a place where vehicles regularly idle, and strangers pass through, suggests Bryce may have hitched a ride. 2026 July 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Bryce Laspisa Vanished Near Castaic Lake After Spending 13 Hours Parked on a California Highway”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2026:
    • to hitch a ride
  5. (intransitive) To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.
    • atoms[…]which at length hitched together 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
  6. (intransitive) To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded.
    • To ease themselves […] by hitching into another place. 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
    • Frank’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw the knife being pointed at him.
  7. (UK, intransitive) To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.
    • Stolen[…]A brown Gelding[…]all his paces, and hitches a little in his pace. 1686, London Gazette:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
hitched Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
hitched Tense=Past lexicographic
hitches Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
hitching Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

hitchment · unhitch · hitchhiker · hitchhike · hitcher · hitching-bar · hitching post · unhitched · without a hitch · hitching rail · hitching · hitch one's wagon to a star · skitch

Synonyms

conjoin · couple · combine · pinion · couple · construct · affix · conglomerate · clinch · knot · wed · wed · put together · inosculate · hitch · clasp · hitch · accouple · piece together · joint · bind · yoke · spouse · espouse · bewed · join · handfast · splice · put together · fix · link · unite · assemble · marry · hook · splice · conjoin · affix · join · conglutinate · fay · wed · piecen · marry · graft · attach · entwine · interlink · bewed · associate · knit · connect · splice · join

Translations (24)

es contener el hálito (to move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded) · mk кре́не (to pull with a jerk) · bg закачвам (to attach) · bg дърпам (to pull with a jerk) · de festmachen (to attach) · uk прив'язувати (to attach) · uk підтягувати (to pull with a jerk) · pt atrelar (to attach) · es soltar un hálito retenido (to move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded) · mi koteo (to attach) · mk за́качи (to attach) · de mit einem Ruck ziehen (to pull with a jerk) · mk вле́че (to pull with a jerk) · uk підштовхувати (to pull with a jerk) · fi kiinnittää (to attach) · uk підсувати (to pull with a jerk) · fi sitoa (to attach) · es hacérsele un nudo en la garganta (to move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded) · el κοτσάρω (to attach) · es detenérsele la respiración (to move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded) · uk запрягати (to attach) · uk причіпляти (to attach) · mk при́цврсти (to attach) · bg зацепвам (to attach)