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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

hitch.

A sudden pull.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/hɪt͡ʃ/
  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.

    informal
    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. A period of time spent in the military.

    slang
    She served two hitches in Vietnam.
  7. A large Californian minnow, Lavinia exilicauda.

  8. A hole cut into the wall of a mine on which timbers are rested.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/hɪt͡ʃ/
  1. To pull with a jerk.

    transitive
    She hitched her jeans up and then tightened her belt.
  2. To attach, tie or fasten.

    transitive
    He hitched the bedroll to his backpack and went camping.
  3. To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.

    informal
  4. Clipping of hitchhike, to thumb a ride.

    abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · informal · transitive
    to hitch a ride
  5. To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.

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

    intransitive
    Frank’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw the knife being pointed at him.
  7. To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.

    UK · intransitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.