fitch

noun

1. A polecat, such as the European polecat (Mustela putorius), the striped polecat, steppe polecat, or black-footed polecat of America.

   “The more beautiful of the two comes from a North American species, the black-footed pole-cat (No. 3), which is creamy yellow, sprinkled with black. Made-up skins of this species are sold as "natural fitch" to distinguish them from those of the common fitch, which are generally dyed. The finest skins of this pole-cat, now nearly extinct in Great Britain, are procured from the colder parts of Russia and Siberia.”

   “Not only as it been quite difficult to eliminate the yellow tinge from the dyed fur, but practically every fur dyer has had to admit his inability to make the dyed fitch permanent in color or prevent it from very quickly turning or fading to a sickening shade of red […]”

   “Putorius eversmanni michnoi Kastsch, Transbaikalian steppe fitch. No specimens were collected by the Expedition, but a single skull of an adult male was received from a Russian trapper who secured it during the past[…]”

   “Striped fitch has coarser hair and is not so valuable.”

2. A skin of a polecat.

   “For those who cannot afford the luxury of real fur, the most picturesque and delightful substitute is offered in stoles and muffs made up of plush-pony skin trimmed with a piece of natural fitch set slant-ways across the front of the muff […]”

3. A kind of twisted open weave in wickerwork.
4. (alt-of, alternative, obsolete)Alternative form of vetch.

   “Fitches or Vetches are of divers Sorts, of which before; but since our Author's Time, several new Grasses have been found out, which supply the same Defect. Those which are most in Request, at present are, Clove, Ray-grass, Nonesuch and St. Fein.”

   “If these plants are young, the weeders do not see them; and in this case, when they grow larger, the land must be again weeded. But the small plants, which are not less prejudicial, such as the wild Fitch, the wild Oat, Darnel, Fennel-flower, Knot-grass, Restharrow, Fox-tail, the several sorts of Bindweed, (Convolvulus) and all the small Poppies, remain in the field.”

   “Snail clover (sainfoin), gallion or petty muggalt, wild fitch and haver (oat) grass were all recommended as profitable forage, but what the second was I do not know.”

verb

1. To use this kind of open weave.

name

1. (countable, uncountable)A surname from Old French.
2. (countable, uncountable)An unincorporated community in Caswell County, North Carolina, United States.