From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
hitch
n 1: a period of time spent in military service [syn:
enlistment, term of enlistment, tour of duty,
duty tour, tour]
2: the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the
negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check";
"during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay
enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop
in his seat" [syn: arrest, check, halt, stay,
stop, stoppage]
3: an unforeseen obstacle [syn: hang-up, rub, snag]
4: a connection between a vehicle and the load that it pulls
5: a knot that can be undone by pulling against the strain that
holds it
6: any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome [syn:
hindrance, preventive, preventative, encumbrance,
incumbrance, interference]
7: the uneven manner of walking that results from an injured
leg [syn: hobble, limp]
v 1: to hook or entangle; "One foot caught in the stirrup" [syn:
catch] [ant: unhitch]
2: walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury; "The old
woman hobbles down to the store every day" [syn: limp,
hobble]
3: jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched; "the yung
filly bucked" [syn: buck, jerk]
4: travel by getting free rides from motorists [syn:
hitchhike, thumb]
5: connect to a vehicle: "hitch the trailer to the car"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hitch \Hitch\, v. i.
To hitchhike; -- mostly used in the phrase to hitch a ride;
as, he hitched his way home; he hitched a ride home.
[PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hitch \Hitch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hitched; p. pr. & vb. n.
Hitching.]
1. To hook; to catch or fasten as by a hook or a knot; to
make fast, unite, or yoke; as, to hitch a horse, or a
halter; hitch your wagon to a star.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. To move with hitches; as, he hitched his chair nearer.
[1913 Webster]
To hitch up.
(a) To fasten up.
(b) To pull or raise with a jerk; as, a sailor hitches up
his trousers.
(c) To attach, as a horse, to a vehicle; as, hitch up the
gray mare. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hitch \Hitch\ (h[i^]ch), v. t. [Cf. Scot. hitch a motion by a
jerk, and hatch, hotch, to move by jerks, also Prov. G.
hiksen, G. hinken, to limp, hobble; or E. hiccough; or
possibly akin to E. hook.]
1. To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to
unite; to cling.
[1913 Webster]
Atoms . . . which at length hitched together.
--South.
[1913 Webster]
2. To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; --
said of something obstructed or impeded.
[1913 Webster]
Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
To ease themselves . . . by hitching into another
place. --Fuller.
[1913 Webster]
3. To hit the legs together in going, as horses; to
interfere. [Eng.] --Halliwell.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hitch \Hitch\, n.
1. A catch; anything that holds, as a hook; an impediment; an
obstacle; an entanglement.
[1913 Webster]
2. The act of catching, as on a hook, etc.
[1913 Webster]
3. A stop or sudden halt; a stoppage; an impediment; a
temporary obstruction; an obstacle; as, a hitch in one's
progress or utterance; a hitch in the performance.
[1913 Webster]
4. A sudden movement or pull; a pull up; as, the sailor gave
his trousers a hitch.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Naut.) A knot or noose in a rope which can be readily
undone; -- intended for a temporary fastening; as, a half
hitch; a clove hitch; a timber hitch, etc.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Geol.) A small dislocation of a bed or vein.
[1913 Webster]