Lexic.us

Definition of Lurch

1. Noun. An unsteady uneven gait.

2. Verb. Walk as if unable to control one's movements. "The drunken man staggered into the room"

3. Noun. A decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage).

4. Verb. Move abruptly. "The ship suddenly lurched to the left"

5. Noun. Abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance). "The pitching and tossing was quite exciting"

6. Verb. Move slowly and unsteadily. "The truck lurched down the road"

7. Noun. The act of moving forward suddenly.

8. Verb. Loiter about, with no apparent aim.

9. Verb. Defeat by a lurch.

Definition of Lurch

1. v. i. To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.

2. n. An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.

3. v. t. To leave in the lurch; to cheat.

4. n. A sudden roll of a ship to one side, as in heavy weather; hence, a swaying or staggering movement to one side, as that by a drunken man. Fig.: A sudden and capricious inclination of the mind.

5. v. i. To roll or sway suddenly to one side, as a ship or a drunken man.

6. v. i. To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lurk.

Definition of Lurch

1. Noun. A sudden or unsteady movement. ¹

2. Verb. To make such a sudden, unsteady movement. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Lurch

1. to sway abruptly [v -ED, -ING, -ES]

Medical Definition of Lurch

1. To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up. "Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear." (Bacon) Origin: L. Lurcare, lurcari. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lurch Pictures

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Lurch

lupus nephritis lupus papillomatosus lupus pernio lupus profundus lupus sebaceus lupus serpiginosus lupus superficialis lupus tuberculosus lupus verrucosus lupus vulgaris

lupuses lur lura lural lurasidone lurch (current term) lurched lurcher lurchers lurches

lurching lurchingly lurchings lurdan lurdane lurdanes lurdans lurden lurdens lure

Literary usage of Lurch

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from by Richard Chenevix Trench (1873)
"‘To lurch' is seldom used now except of a ship, which ‘lurches' when it makes ... But ‘to lurch,' generally as an active verb, was of much more frequent use ..."

2. A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1901)
"Der. lurch-er, ' one that lies upon the lurch, or upon the catch, ... Obscure; perhaps merely lurch (i) in the sense to stoop or dodge ; see lurch (i). ..."

3. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, Or Origin of by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1898)
"To leave in tAe lurch. To leave a person in a difficulty. In crib- bage a person is left in the lurch when hit adversary has run out his score of ..."

4. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1893)
"'to leave in the lurch ' was derived from its use in an old game ; to lurch ... A lurch is a term esp. used when one person gains every point before another ..."

5. Elements of Criticism by Henry Home Kames (1807)
"... in the following arrangement : -the country gentlemen, if they get into it, will certainly be left in the lurch. ..."

6. A Dictionary of English Etymology by Hensleigh Wedgwood, John Christopher Atkinson (1872)
"To lie left in the lurch. A metaphor from the gaming-table. ... To lurch.—To Lurk. These are originally variations in pronunciation only, differing from ..."

7. The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New TestamentsEnglish language (1815)
"»4 Moreover, Jeremiah faid unto all thc z /\,3¡ oui dri tu all the worn. U«D, all Judah rh.,t . CHAP. XLV, XLVI. =, and lurch the fun of ..."

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