See also: Lurch

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Originally a nautical term, found in lee-larches (the sudden and violent rolls of a ship to the leeward in high seas), of unknown origin. Possibly the same as lurch (to move stealthily, evade by stooping) (see below), or from French lâcher (to let go).

Noun

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lurch (plural lurches)

  1. A sudden or unsteady movement.
    the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard
    • 1850, William O. S. Gilly, “The Tribune”, in Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy [] [2], London: John W. Parker:
      The ship was driving rapidly towards the rocky coast, against which she must have been dashed to pieces had she kept afloat a few minutes longer, but she gave a lurch and went down, rose again for an instant, and with another lurch sank, and all was over,—and there were nearly two hundred and fifty human beings struggling with the waves.
    • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
      Yet I hoped by grouting at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one side, and I was left in darkness.
Translations
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Verb

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lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

  1. To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.
Translations
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See also

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Etymology 2

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From Middle English *lurchen (recorded only in Middle English lurcare, lurcard (glutton)), from Old French *lurcher, from Latin lurcō (eat greedily, guzzle), of uncertain origin. Compare Middle High German slurken (to slurp) (whence German schlurken).

Verb

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lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

  1. (obsolete) To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Building”, in The Essayes [], 3rd edition, London: [] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
      Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.

Etymology 3

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From Middle English lorchen, variant of Middle English lurken (to lurk). More at lurk.

Alternative forms

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Verb

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lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

  1. (dialectal, intransitive) To evade by stooping; to lurk; lie in wait; go about in a sneaking way.
  2. (dialectal, intransitive) To take by surprise; to unexpectedly detain.
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To rob.

Noun

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lurch (plural lurches)

  1. (dialectal) A lift or heave.

Etymology 4

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From Middle English *lurche (implied in derivative lurching), from Old French lourche (deceived, embarrassed; also the name of a game), from Proto-West Germanic *lort (left; left-handed; crooked; bent; warped; underhanded; deceitful; limping).[1] Cognate to English lirt.

Noun

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lurch (countable and uncountable, plural lurches)

  1. An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
  2. A double score in cribbage for the winner when his/her adversary has not yet pegged his/her 31st hole.
    • August 14, 1784, Horace Walpole, letter to the Hon. H. S. Conway
      Lady Blandford has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch.
  3. A predicament or difficult situation.

Verb

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lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
      Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.
  2. (transitive) To defeat in the game of cribbage with a lurch (double score as explained under noun entry).

References

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  1. ^ Arika Okrent (2019 July 5) “12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms”, in Mental Floss[1], Pocket, retrieved 2021-10-08

Anagrams

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eth 2
see 4