hitch

name

1. Alfred Hitchcock

noun

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.

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. A problem, delay or source of difficulty.

   “The banquet went off without a hitch”

   “The service operated according to plan on the Monday morning with only a few hitches.”

5. A hidden or unfavorable condition or element.

   “The deal sounds too good to be true. What's the hitch?”

6. 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”

7. A large Californian minnow, Lavinia exilicauda.
8. A hole cut into the wall of a mine on which timbers are rested.

   “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.”

   “A coal cutter and conveyor is used along the face, and after each cut the hitch had to be crossed at a new point.”

verb

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.

1. To pull with a jerk.

   “She hitched her jeans up and then tightened her belt.”

2. To attach, tie or fasten.

   “He hitched the bedroll to his backpack and went camping.”

   “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.”

3. To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.
4. Clipping of hitchhike, to thumb a ride.

   “to hitch a ride”

5. To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.

   “atoms[…]which at length hitched together”

6. To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded.

   “Frank’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw the knife being pointed at him.”

   “To ease themselves […] by hitching into another place.”

7. 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.”