Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a period of time, esp. of employment of any sort.

1835		H.C. Todd Notes 38: We shall clear up three load this hitch [DA].
1840		T. Haliburton Clockmaker III 31: Hand out your five dollars, says I, for you missed your guess this hitch anyhow.
1929		L. Thomas Woodfill of the Regulars 199: Guess I’ll stick with you and put in another hitch up here myself.
1959		E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 151: It was Gunner Mike’s hitch on the roof top of the shed as lookout.
1967		E. Shepard Doom Pussy 23: CBS commentator Charles Collingwood said hello and goodbye to me, his hitch in Saigon finished.
1999		Guardian Rev. 15 Oct. 17: From this little hitch she’s become a superbitch.

2. (US milit.) a term of enlistment in one of the US armed forces.

1907		C. M’Govern By Bolo and Krag 29: Guess I had a little stroke of sunstroke when I was over here last hitch.
1913		H.A. Franck Zone Policeman 88 176: Only, simple as it was, none did it, not even old soldiers with two or three ‘hitches’ in the army.
1920		Collier’s 15 May 4/3: It’s commencin’ to look kinda silly to the little pals of Alma Mater for them to toy with readin’ and ’ritin’ and ’rithmetic for a four-year hitch [DA].
1935		C.G. Finney Circus of Dr Lao 88: After I get done with that hitch, I reckon I’ll try the coast artillery in Hawaii.
1941		‘Digg Mee’ ‘Observation Post’ in N.Y. Age 13 Dec. 9/5: Albert Walker is home after pulling his ‘hitch’ in the C’s and is preparing for induction into the army.
1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 177: I had been in this Corps for more hitches than I cared to mention.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 161: His longest bout of stability was a three-year hitch in the Coast Guard.
1970		D. Ponicsan Last Detail 71: Tell me how long you got to serve this hitch?
1981		A.K. Shulman On the Stroll 8: His stomach, which had kept him from signing up for another hitch at sea, was acting up all the time now.
2001		G. Pelecanos Right As Rain 46: A hitch in the Marine Corps and hard work had given him his build.

3. (US) a prison sentence.

1923		D. Hammett ‘House Dick’ in Nightmare Town (2001) 48: He was convicted up North and sent over for a one-to-fourteen-year hitch.
1920		Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang Oct. 42: Dear pals, when my ‘hitch’ is completed, / Back to Frisco I’ll journey again;.
1936		K. Mackenzie Living Rough 56: He was lucky he didn’t get the hot seat but he drew a life-hitch instead.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1957		Kerouac On The Road (1972) 242: Another hitch in prison and you’ll be put away for life.
1964		Larner & Tefferteller Addict in the Street (1966) 82: I just came back last November from doing a hitch at Elmira.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 51: His temporary hitch doing two years for importation.
2020		C. Hiaasen Squeeze Me 75: ‘Knock it off. Wasn’t I up-front about my hitch in prison?’’.