Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive & transitive verb To flip or cause to flip end over end.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb of a boat To capsize end over end, as in heavy surf.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

pitch + pole

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Examples

  • The men must row faster than the current or he would lose steerage; too fast, and the craft would plunge her bow into a trough and pitchpole.

    Stormwarden Wurts, Janny 1989

  • A good sailor knows that the best he can do is trim his vessel for both apparent and true wind - and always be fully prepared to recover, instantly if at all possible, from a knockdown, be it a round up, round down / jibe / broach, or the infamous but well known pitchpole, an extremely watery cousin of the endo.

    Latest Articles 2009

Comments

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  • When tumbling from your velocipede

    Your style of dismount is decreed.

    Determining which roll,

    The sideways or pitchpole,

    Is purely a function of speed.

    August 4, 2015