If you can recompile the program without making changes and it runs without ahitch, we say the program is portable.
verb /hɪtʃ/
1
to get free rides from the drivers of passing cars by standing at the side of the road and putting a hand out with the thumb raised SYN hitchhike [hitchhike = noun, /'hɪtʃ,haɪk/, to travel to places by getting free rides from drivers of passing cars]
HITCHHIKE
to get a ride in a passing vehicle.
to get a free ride in a person's car; to travel around in this way, by standing at the side of the road and trying to get passing cars to stop. SYN hitchhike.
to get a free ride in someone else's vehicle as a way of travelling.
to travel by asking other people to take you in their car, by standing at the side of a road and holding out your thumb or a sign.
If you hitch, hitch a lift, or hitch a ride, you hitchhike.
hitch across/around/to
He plans to hitch right round the coast of Ireland.
hitch a ride/lift (with somebody)
We hitched a ride with a trucker.
He hitched across the country last summer.
He hitched his way across the country last summer.
Her car broke down, so she had to hitch a ride/lift with a passing truck.
They hitched a ride in a truck.
They hitched a lift.
We spent the summer hitching around Europe.
They hitched across the States.
We didn't take the bus—we hitched.
They hitched a lift to Edinburgh from a passing car.
We managed to hitch a ride to Bristol with a truck driver.
As a student, Lisa had hitched across the States.
There was no garage in sight, so I hitched a lift into town.
Jean-Phillippe had hitched all over Europe in the 1960s.
2
(also hitch up) to move a piece of clothing you are wearing so that it is higher than it was before.
to pull (a piece of clothing) up with a quick movement.
to pull up a piece of your clothing. SYN hike up.
to pull something, especially trousers or a skirt, upwards to a slightly higher position.
to move a part of your body or something that you are carrying to a higher position.
to pull something that you are wearing to a higher position.
If you hitch up a piece of clothing such as a skirt or pair of trousers, you pull it up into a higher position.
She hitched her skirt above her knees and knelt down. [kneel = verb, /nil/, (also kneel down) (past tense and past participle knelt /nelt/ or kneeled American English), to be in or move into a position where your body is resting on your knees. to move your body so that one or both of your knees are on the floor.]
She hitched her skirt up above her knees.
She hitched up her skirt and waded into the river.
She hitched her skirt up before wading across the stream.
He hitched his backpack onto his shoulder and set off.
She hitched up her skirt and ran.She leapt from the car, hitched up her dress and sprinted down the road after him.
He hitched his trousers up over his potbelly.
3
get hitched
to get married.
If you get hitched, you get married.
They got hitched without telling their parents.
He's getting hitched to his college sweetheart.
The report shows that fewer couples are getting hitched.
4
hitch up (phrasal verb)
hitch (something) up or hitch up (something)
(also hitch up) to lift yourself into a higher position by pushing with your hands.
to lift yourself into a higher position, or the position mentioned.
If you hitch up a vehicle, you connect it so that it can be pulled, and if you hitch up an animal to a vehicle, you connect it so that it can pull the vehicle.
hitch yourself (up) onto/on something
Gail hitched herself up onto the high stool.
She hitched herself up.
He hitched himself onto the bar stool.
She hitched herself into a sitting position.
We watched as the farmer hitched up a team of oxen.
They can just hitch up their horses and head off.
5
to fasten something to something else, using a rope, chain etc.
(also hitch up) to fasten an animal to something with wheels so that the animal can pull it forwards.
to attach, fasten, or connect (something) with a hook, knot, etc.
to fix sth to sth else with a rope, a hook, etc.
to fasten something to another thing by tying it with a rope or using a metal hook.
to fasten something such as a trailer to the back of a car.
to fasten a horse to something such as a post or wagon.
If you hitch something onto something else, you hook it or fasten it there.
hitch something to something
He hitched our pick-up to his trailer /'trelɚ/.
a goat hitched to a fence
I hitched up the horse and drove out into the fields.
hitch a trailer to a car.
He hitched his horse to a post outside the saloon /sə'lun/. = He tied his horse to a hitching post outside the saloon.
She hitched the pony to the gate.
The horses were hitched to a shiny black carriage.
We just need to hitch the trailer (on)to the car and then we can go.
Last night we hitched the horse to the cart and moved here.
noun /hɪtʃ/
1
a small problem that makes something difficult or delays it for a short time.
a hidden problem that makes something more complicated or difficult to do.
a problem or difficulty that causes a short delay.
a temporary difficulty which causes a short delay.
a problem that is not very serious.
A hitch is a slight problem or difficulty which causes a short delay. Syn: snag
technical/slight/last-minute hitch
In spite of some technical hitches, the first program was a success.
The whole show went without a hitch.
Register
In written English, people usually prefer to use (small/minor) problem rather than hitch, which sounds slightly informal:
· There were some minor technical problems when the product was first released.
It sounded like a good plan, but there was just one hitch. [=catch]
The plan went off without a hitch. [go without a hitch]
The ceremony went off without a hitch.
a technical hitch.
Due to a slight technical hitch the concert will be starting half an hour late.
The plane was delayed because of a last-minute hitch.
I managed to install the program without a hitch.
After some technical hitches the show finally got under way.
The five-hour operation went without a hitch.
2
a type of knot.
a type of simple knot that is used to hold or fasten something for a short time.
a half hitch
a clove hitch.
3
a device that is used to connect one thing (such as a plow or trailer) to another (such as a tractor, car, or animal)
a trailer hitch.
4
US INFORMAL a period of service in the military, at a job, etc.
He went back to college after doing his hitch in the army.
a seven-year hitch at the newspaper
