Pitcher (container) - Definition and Overview

Containers with a spout for pouring their contents are called pitchers.

It is said that the term arose from the use of a long spouted container to pour hot pitch when caulking the seams between planks in sailing vessels.

Pitch was traditionally used to help caulk the seams of wooden sailing vessels. It was heated, then put into a container with a very long spout. The word pitcher is said to derive from this long spouted container used to pour hot pitch. Several phrases in popular use today date to this maritime usage. The term "The Devil to Pay" is said to derive from this maritime usage. The full phrase was "The Devil to Pay, and no pitch hot". The "devil" in question being the most outward plank, the most difficult one to caulk.