pitch and toss

9.7

A game where players throw coins at a mark and the closest wins

noun

Archaic

: lanzar y tirar

Some local festivals feature traditional pitch and toss competitions for children.

Examples

He lost all his spare coins in a heated game of pitch and toss.
They played pitch and toss at the park.
On summer evenings, the boys would play pitch and toss near the old railway tracks.
Do you want to play pitch and toss later?
The children played pitch and toss, throwing their coins toward the tree trunk for fun.
They enjoyed a game of pitch and toss during their picnic, trying to see who could land the most coins closest to the target.
At the fair, we decided to play pitch and toss to win some small prizes.

Synonyms

pitch

vspitch and toss

3 8.6

A card game where players win points by taking tricks

is a physical throwing contest aiming to place objects nearest a target

horseshoes

vspitch and toss

3.9

A game of throwing U-shaped metal rings at a stake to land around it or close

throws small flat metal pieces casually aiming to land closest to a mark

Antonyms

skill

∞ 1.0

Ability to do something well because of practice or training

Surface Forms

pitch and toss singular

pitch and tosses plural

Morphology

pitch + and + toss

Both verbs 'pitch' and 'toss' mean to throw, so a B1 learner who knows those words will likely infer this refers to some sort of throwing game; the coordinated form signals a game/activity built from throwing actions. However, the precise conventions (throwing coins toward a mark, closest wins, often for small stakes) are specific cultural details not predictable from the constituents alone, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

The noun pitch and toss comes from a simple street game where people would pitch and toss coins toward a small mark, and the coin closest to the mark won. Because winning depended on luck and small bets, the name now means a casual 'game of chance' played for small bets.