HITCH, sb.1 Nhb. Wor. [h)itʃ.] 1. A chest. Nhb.1
2. The enclosure of hurdles in which sheep are penned
while eating roots.
Wor. I have seen as many as a hundred sheep in a hitch about
the size of this room. When they had bitten off the roots the
hitch would be moved to a fresh place (E.S.).
[1. Whyche or hutche, cista, Prompt.]

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HITCH, v.1 and sb.2 Var. dial. uses in Sc. Irel. and Eng.
Also in form itch w.Yks. Der.1 Ken.1 [h)itʃ.] 1. v. To
move about, gen. by a series of jerks; to make room,
change places; to bestir oneself; also fig. to promote.
Ayr. Ainslie Land of Burns (ed. 1892) 45. Peb. Ilk ane near
the fire was hitchin', Affleck Poet. Wks. (1836) 129. Gall. While
his shanks after him he cud hitch, He keep'd up his glorious
bonello, Mactaggart Encycl. (1824) 79, ed. 1876. n.Cy. (Hall.)
Lakel. Ah cannot hitch Ah's that thrang (B.K.). n.Yks.1 w.Yks.
Ah seem'd az if ah cuddant itch anuther peg, Tom Treddlehoyle
Trip ta Lunnan (1851) 42; w.Yks.4; w.Yks.5 Come, be hitching
Hitch along! Der.1 n.Lin.1 Hitch on a bit; ther's anuther to
cum i'to this pew. Nhp.1 This sense is aptly illustrated by the
distich, on the old beam which separated Bdf. from an insulated
portion of Hrt., in the dining room of the late parsonage house,
at Mappershall: ‘If you wish to go into Hrt., Hitch a little nearer
the fire.’ When any one is promoted, ‘he is hitched on a little.’
s.Wor. 'E wuz used to sit o' the side o' the bed an' 'itch 'isself in
(H.K.). Hnt. (T.P.F.) e.An.1 A man is often desired to hitch,
in order to make room for another;.. to hitch any thing which
happens to be in the way; e.An.2, Nrf. (E.M.) e.Suf. Don't keep
hitching about (F.H.).
2. With up: to lift oneself up. Dor. (W.C.)
3. To move a heavy weight with difficulty; to jerk; to
reach down.
w.Yks. Come bring it here; na, I can't hitch it, Leeds Merc.
(Nov. 8, 1884). e.An.1 Suf. Hitch that er ladder a little more
right upper (H.H.); Suf.1 Hitch it this waah. Dev. Hitch down
thicky yeller dog from off the mantelshelf, Phillpotts Dartmoor
(1895) 85, ed. 1896.
4. To hop on one leg; to spring.
Kcd. Owre the hill he hitch't an' hirpled. Grant Lays (1884)
114. N.Cy.1, Nhb.1 Lakel.2 Hoo far can thoo hitch? Cum. He
could ha’ hitch't ower a five-bar't yat wi' just liggèn ya hand on
t'top on't, Richardson Talk (1871) 1st S. 50, ed. 1884; Cum.1 Cum.4
Wm. Hoo far can thoo hitch withoot settin' doon? (B.K.)
n.Yks.1 n.Yks.3 n.Yks.4 ne.Yks.1 Ah'll hitch tha ti yon yat (a boy's challenge).
e.Yks. Marshall Rur. Econ. (1788). Suf.1
Hence (1) Hitch-a-pagy, sb. [not known to our correspondents]
a game; (2) Hitch-hatch, sb. a game similar to
‘Drop-handkerchief’; (3) Hitch-hob, (4) Hitchey-bed(s, or
Hitchi-bed(s, sb. the game of hop-scotch; (5) Hitchey-dabber,
sb. the game of hop-scotch; the square piece of wood
jerked by the foot in the game of hop-scotch; (6) Hitchy-bay,
sb. the game of hop-scotch; in pl. the courts
marked out for the game of hop-scotch; (7) Hitchy-cock-ho, sb.
[not known to our correspondents] a game; (8) Hitchy-pot, sb.
see (4).
(1) Suf. (Hall.) (2) Lan. All would lay hold of hands, a lad
and a lass alternately, and a ring be formed... One of the maids
then went round on the outside of the ring, with a handkerchief
in her hand, which she applied to every pair of hands, and then
took away again, repeating as she went round ─ ‘Hitch-hatch,
hitch-hatch, I've a chicken undermi lap; Heer I brew, an' heer I
bake, An' heer I lay mi clap-cake,’ laying the handkerchief at the
same time on the arm of some youth or maiden, and running
away, in and out, across the ring and round about, the one on
whose arm the handkerchief was left following as quick as possible
to catch her, and if he or she succeeded in doing so, she must
begin and perambulate again, until she can contrive to slip into
the vacant space left by her pursuer, when she keeps the station
and her pursuer goes round as she did, Bamford Early Days (ed.
1849) 156, in Manch. City News (Dec. 30, 1899); We had a bout
at ‘hitch-hatch,’ or ‘drop napkin,’ as some of them called the play,
Brierley Cast upon World (1886) 122. (3) e.Suf. (F.H.) (4)
Nhb.1 Lakel.2 (s.v. Hitchi-pot). Cum. Some are by inclination
led To ‘skipping rope’ or hitchey bed, Random Rhymes, 9; Cum.4
Wm. Let's hev a lake at hitchi-bed (B.K.). n.Yks.1 (5) Nhb. A
‘bed’ is marked out, and the player throws a ‘dabber’ over its
crossed lines. The dabber is jerked by the foot of the player, who
must hop on one foot only. If the foot is put down or the ‘dabber’
touches a line the player is out. The top bed is marked ‘pot,’
and the player counts by getting the ‘dabber’ safely into this bed
and calls it ‘one-a-pot,’ ‘two-a-pot,’ and so on (R.O.H.); Nhb.1,
e.Dur.1 (6) e.Dur.1 (7) Suf.1 (s.v. Move-all). (8) Lakel.2 Cum.4
Hitchy-pot... requires ten divisions, the fourth, fifth, sixth and
seventh being formed by sub-dividing the larger and central space
into triangles. It is not possible to give here a full account of the
game, of which there are variations besides those referred to above,
which is played with a pot.
5. To run. N.I.1
6. Obs. To creep; to linger.
Bch. I hitcht about Lyonessus' wa'as Till I my time cou'd see,
Forbes Ulysses (1785) 19. Ken. (K.), Ken.1
7. sb. A sudden movement; a jerk; a limp, a hop or
spring from one foot.
Sc. (Jam.), Cum.4 Chs.1 To have a hitch in one's gait is to be
lame; Chs.2 Chs.3, Nhp.1, Suf.1 e.Suf. He made a hitch towards
me (F.H.).
8. Comb. (1) Hitch, Jamie; hitch, Jamie, stride-and-loup,
(2) Hitch step-and-jump or Hitch step-and-loup, (3) Hitch stepping,
(4) Hitch stride-and-jump or Hitch stride-and-loup,
the game or movements of hop-skip-and-jump.
(1) n.Yks.1 (2) N.Cy.1 Nhb. Hitch, step, and loup, I spanged
ashore, Gilchrist Voyage to Lunnin (1824); (R.O.H.); Nhb.1
Cum. Hitch-step-an'-loup some tried for spwort, Stagg Misc.
Poems (ed. 1805) 133; Cum.4 (3) Cum.1 (4) n.Yks.3 n.Yks.4, ne.Yks.1
9. A push, impetus; also fig. a little temporary assistance.
Sc. (Jam.) Bch. I'll gie his birn a hitch, an' help To ease him
o' his pain, Forbes Ulysses (1785) 32. Abd. Both rapid manipulation
and an occasional ‘hitch’ from a brother couper were needed
to enable Sandy Mutch to meet his engagements, Alexander
Ain Flk. (1882) 106. Dmb. Ablins the win in a hitch Will soughin
blaw ye in the ditch, Taylor Poems (1827) 78. Rnf. Borrowing
frae hope a hitch, Gude faith, they whyles grow vauntie, Webster
Rhymes (1835) 207. Ayr. Come, gie your banes anither hitch Up
Hudson's stream, Ainslie Land of Burns (ed. 1892) 278. e.An.1
Give your stool a hitch.
10. A throw in wrestling.
Cor. Tom proposed to try ‘a hitch.’.. Jack knew nothing of
wrestling... Tom put the tinkeard on his back at every ‘hitch,’
Hunt Pop. Rom. w.Engl. (1865) 63, ed. 1896; You an' me had
a hitch to wrestlin' once, over to Tregarrick feast, ‘Q.’ Wandering
Heath (1895) 105.
11. An impediment; a flaw; a difficulty.
Edb. Fortune, she's a fickle b-t-ch, She's gien me mony a cursed
hitch, Liddle Poems (1821) 174. Ant. Ballymena Obs. (1892).
Cum.4 Lan. Firm in danger's straitest hitch, Kay-Shuttleworth
Scarsdale (1860) II. 236. Nhp.1 A hitch, in a title to an estate.
s.Wor. A got through Sunnay-School athout a 'itch (H.K.). Nrf.
There's a hitch in that bargain, N. & Q. (1863) 3rd S. iv. 363.
12. Mining term: a small dislocation of the strata which
does not exceed the height of the coal-seam; the broken
coal found near such a dislocation; also used attrib.
Slg. The coal in this district is full of irregularities, stiled by
the workmen coups, and hitches, and dykes, Statist. Acc. Campsie,
XV. 329 (Jam.). Ayr. The coal seams in this, as in other districts,
are frequently intersected by dykes, hitches and troubles, Agric.
Surv. 50 (JAM.). N.Cy.1 Nhb. White stone like hitch, darker at
bottom... The nature of the material is distinguished as ‘hitch-coal,’
or ‘hitch-stone.’ Soft hitch stone, mixed with post, 4
fathoms. Soft blue hitch stone, Borings (1881) 8, 190; (R.O.H.);
Nhb.1 Nhb., Dur. Where the explosion occurred was a ‘hitch’
or ‘trouble’ in the seam of about 9 or 10 feet, Newc. Leader (Feb.
15, 1896) 6; A sudden elevation or depression of the strata to
the extent of from a few inches to the thickness of the working
seam of coal. When of a larger size it is called a dyke, Greenwell
Coal Tr. Gl. (1849). Dur. (J.J.B.), w.Yks. (S.K.C.)
Hence Hitchy, sb. coal or stone that is broken as by a
‘hitch’; also used attrib.
Nhb. Soft hitchy stone 6 fms. 5 ft., Borings (1881) 190;
(R.O.H.); Nhb.1
13. A slight twitching pain. e.Suf. (F.H.)

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HITCH, v.2 and sb.3 Var. dial. uses in Sc. and Eng.
Also in form hetch Wil. [h)itʃ.] 1. v. To fasten; to
attach loosely.
Sc. A brooch or a locket... An' mair than a poet can hitch in
his metre, Vedder Poems (1842) 204. I.Ma. Quilted and hemmed
and hitched and gored and eylotted and stitched, Brown Witch
(1889) 27. Der.2 Hitch the wheel. nw.Der.1, Nhp.1 Hrf.
Bound Provinc. (1876). Oxf.1 To hitch a dress is to sew a piece
on the top of the skirt. Brks.1 Hitch yer herse to the gaayte
po-ast an' come an' help I get this nitch o' straa upon my back.
Ken. (K.) Som. If old Mr. Gregg... had just tried to make
hisself a bit more pleasant like I'd a hitched the surplice on 'un
wi' a deal more pleasure, Palmer Mr. Trueman (1895) 7. Dev.1
Cor.1 Don't put too many stitches; hitch it together.
Hence (1) Hitchel, sb. a kind of halter for fastening a
pony to a fence. e.An.1; (2) Hitcher, sb. the ‘chape’ of
a buckle. Cor.1
2. Comp. Hitch-nail, a strong nail, about two inches
long, with a flat point and a rose head. Nhb.1
3. Phr. to get hitched, or to get hitched up, to be married.
w.Yks.2 Glo. My lass wur sweet enow on I when er 'eard
how I'd a-fought for 'er, an' 'twarn't long avor we got hitched up
together, Buckman Darke's Sojourn (1890) xxii.
4. To strike against an obstacle; to entangle; to catch.
Dor.1 Zoo hitch'd her lag In brembles, 178. Som. I hitch'd my
voot again the stone, Raymond Men o' Mendip (1898) xviii.
w.Som.1 Must have a boot, vor thick there 'oss he do hitch one
voot gin tother, and he've a cut his vetter-lock sure 'nough. Cor.
They run'd an' hitch'd me, T. Towser (1873) 80.
5. Of rope: to twist. e.An.1
6. To eke out.
Hrt. To hitch out the penny, Ellis Cy. Housewife (1750) 25.
7. With in or on: to harness a horse to a vehicle, plough,
or harrow.
w.Mid. (W.P.M.) Wil. ‘Shall I hitch the pony out vor 'ee,
zur?’ ‘If you do, you'll only have to hitch un in again in five
minutes, Jim!’ (G.E.D.) Dor. Hitch in the horses, Barnes
Gl. (1863).
8. With off or out: to unharness, to release horses from
work.
w.Mid. After dinner we 'itched off plough, and went on to
'arrow (W.P.M.). Hmp. (H.E.) Wil. Slow Gl. (1892); Wil.1 Som.
As John hitched out his horse, Raymond Gent. Upcott (1893) 153.
9. With up: to hang up.
Dev. She hitched up the big tea-kettle to the chimney crook,
O'Neill Idyls (1892) 4. n.Dev. Cum, you buoys, hitch up yer
caps, Rock Jim an' Nell (1867) st. 14.
10. To depend upon.
Chs.1 It aw hitches upon ahr John behavin hissel whether
I come or not. s.Chs.1 Not common.
11. To agree; also with on.
Som. Very common. A mother will tell you that her maid has
been trying for a place ─ but she and her missus could not hitch
on. ‘Black-smithing's a trade I never could hitch with’ (W.F.R.);
When volks relidgion didn't hitch, Agrikler Rhymes (1872) 63.
12. pass. To become entangled or hooked together;
with in or up: to be arm-in-arm.
Glo.1 Hmp. Holloway. w.Cy. N. & Q. (1877) 5th S. viii. 156.
Dor. They wer a-hitched up, Barnes Gl. (1863). Som. Jennings
Obs. Dial. w.Eng. (1825); Sweetman Wincanton Gl. (1885).
13. sb. ? Obs. A noose; a knot; a turn of rope round
anything; a row of knitting.
Fif. Hitch on hitch succeeding fast Aff frae the gowden points
were cast, And, sattlin' on the dazzlin' hose, Heigher and heigher
still arose, Tennant Papistry (1827) 16. Ayr. Upon her cloot
she coost a hitch, An' owre she warsel'd in the ditch, Burns Death
of Mailie, l. 3. Gall. Mactaggart Encycl. (1824) 271, ed. 1876.

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HITCH, v.3 Lin. Oxf. Brks. Hrt. Wil. [itʃ.] 1. Obs.
To change crops in an open or common field.
n.Lin.1 In fallow years no hitching is ever made in any of the
fields, and consequently no clover or turnips are raised, Surv.
Kirton-in-Lindsey (1787).
Hence Hitching, sb. part of a field ploughed and sown
during the year in which the rest of the field lies fallow.
Oxf. (Hall.); Kennett Par. Antiq. (1695) Gl. (s.v. Inhoc).
2. Comb. (1) Hitch-crop, a crop grown on the best part
of fallow land; (2) Hitch-land or Hitch-land-field, see below.
(1) Hrt. We call such a barley crop a hitch crop, as not having
a regular tilth made for the same, Ellis Mod. Husb. (1750) VI.
iii. (2) Wil. In this course of husbandry, the common-field
farmers have thought some of the land too good to lie still for
two years: instead, therefore, of sowing the whole of the barley
field with clover, they have reserved one-third, or one-fourth of the
best of it for vetches, pease, beans... for the two years during which
the other parts of the fields are in clover; but taking care to have
it ready to come in course with the rest of the field for wheat.
This part of the field is called a hookland or hitchland field, Davis
Gen. View Agric. (1811) vii; Wil.1
3. Phr. hitching the fields; see below.
Brks. A kind of agreement among the parishioners to withhold
turning stock out, whilst particular crops are growing, and by
which means a few brush turnips, clover, and vetches are sown,
Reports Agric. (1793-1813) 29.
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HITCH, v.4 Dev.2 [Not known to our correspondents.]
[itʃ.] To beat, thrash.
I'll hitch thy back if the dis'n be quiet.

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HITCH, sb.1 and v.1 Cum. 1. sb. Mining term:
a small dislocation of the strata which does not exceed
the height of the coal-seam.
It was a bad seam with a hitch. Stuff was constantly falling off
the hitch, W. Cum. Times (Aug. 19, 1903) 2; (E.W.P.)
2. v. To work in a pit or mine until a ‘fault’ is come
across. (E.W.P.)

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HITCH, v.2 se.Lin. To fasten, hang. (J.T.B.)

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‡HITCH, sb. Obs. Wil.1 229. Monthly agents.