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• loach
  loach

  noun

  any of several slender European and Asian fishes of the family Cobitidae and related families, having several barbels around the mouth.
• Loach
  Loach

  noun

  Ken ( neth ). born 1936, British television and film director; his works for television include Cathy Come Home (1966) and his films include Kes (1970), Riff-Raff (1991), Bread and Roses (2000), The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), and The Angels' Share (2012)

loach

American  

[lohch] / loʊtʃ /

noun

1. any of several slender European and Asian fishes of the family Cobitidae and related families, having several barbels around the mouth.

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Loach ¹ British  

/ ləʊtʃ /

noun

1. Ken ( neth ). born 1936, British television and film director; his works for television include Cathy Come Home (1966) and his films include Kes (1970), Riff-Raff (1991), Bread and Roses (2000), The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), and The Angels' Share (2012)

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loach ² British  

/ ləʊtʃ /

noun

1. any carplike freshwater cyprinoid fish of the family Cobitidae, of Eurasia and Africa, having a long narrow body with barbels around the mouth

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Etymology

Origin of loach

1325–75; Middle English loche < Middle French

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

loach Loach

The EA and Thames Water are investigating after dead European eels, sticklebacks, gudgeon and stone loach were discovered in the River Pool.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Fish passage has also been opened for other species recorded in the river, including the critically endangered European eel as well as grayling, trout, lamprey, minnow, stone loach, and bullhead.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025

Federally endangered species particularly threatened by the presence of the bovines are the “southwest willow flycatcher, narrow-headed garter snake, Gila chub, loach minnow, and Spikedace,” according to a Forest Service memo.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 17, 2023

He compared his personality to that of a loach fish, a freshwater bottom feeder, and said he will “work and sweat to push down-to-earth politics.”

From BusinessWeek ● Sep. 1, 2011

In the sacred stream there is a small Cyprinoid, probably a Systomus, with a conspicuous spot on either side near the tail: there is also a small loach.

From Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries by William Griffith

Social realist dramas aren’t new and they include award-winning landmarks by Ken Loach and Chloé Zhao.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

A landmark Ken Loach drama "Kes", in 1969, featured a boy's bond with a kestrel.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025

In a Loach movie, survival hinges not on individualism, but on community.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

The city and state plan to work on a plan to address the risk, Loach said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023

The Tench and Loach are very interesting, but also very delicate.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 47, September, 1861 by Various