perch

¹ American  

[purch] / pɜrtʃ /

noun

1. a pole or rod, usually horizontal, serving as a roost for birds.

2. any place or object, as a sill, fence, branch, or twig, for a bird, animal, or person to alight or rest upon.

3. a high or elevated position, resting place, or the like.

4. a small, elevated seat for the driver of any of certain vehicles.

5. a pole connecting the fore and hind running parts of a spring carriage or other vehicle.

6. a post set up as a navigational aid on a navigational hazard or on a buoy.

7. British.

   1. a linear or square rod.

   2. a measure of volume for stone, about 24 cubic feet (0.7 cubic meters).

8. Textiles. an apparatus consisting of two vertical posts and a horizontal roller, used for inspecting cloth after it leaves the loom.

9. Obsolete. any pole, rod, or the like.

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verb (used without object)

• perches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• perched,
  past participle,  past
• perching
  present participle

1. to alight or rest upon a perch.

2. to settle or rest in some elevated position, as if on a perch.

verb (used with object)

• perches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• perched,
  past participle,  past
• perching
  present participle

1. to set or place on or as if on a perch.

2. to inspect (cloth) for defects and blemishes after it has been taken from the loom and placed upon a perch.

perch ² American  

[purch] / pɜrtʃ /

noun

• perch,
  plural
• perches
  plural

1. any spiny-finned, freshwater food fish of the genus Perca, as P. flavescens yellow perch, of the U.S., or P. fluviatilis, of Europe.

2. any of various other related, spiny-finned fishes.

3. any of several embioticid fishes, as Hysterocarpus traski tule perch of California.

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perch ¹ British  

/ pɜːtʃ /

noun

1. a pole, branch, or other resting place above ground on which a bird roosts or alights

2. a similar resting place for a person or thing

3. another name for rod

4. a solid measure for stone, usually taken as 198 inches by 18 inches by 12 inches

5. a pole joining the front and rear axles of a carriage

6. a frame on which cloth is placed for inspection

7. obsolete a pole

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verb

1. (usually foll by on) to alight, rest, or cause to rest on or as if on a perch

   the bird perched on the branch

   the cap was perched on his head

2. (tr) to inspect (cloth) on a perch

perch ² British  

/ pɜːtʃ /

noun

1. any freshwater spiny-finned teleost fish of the family Percidae, esp those of the genus Perca, such as P. fluviatilis of Europe and P. flavescens ( yellow perch ) of North America: valued as food and game fishes

2. any of various similar or related fishes

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• percher
  noun
• perchable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• perch
  plural
• perches
  plural

Participles

• perching
  present
• perched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• perch
  simple
• perches
  simple
• have perched
  perfect
• has perched
  perfect
• am perching
  progressive
• are perching
  progressive
• is perching
  progressive
• have been perching
  perfect progressive
• has been perching
  perfect progressive

Past

• perched
  simple
• had perched
  perfect
• was perching
  progressive
• were perching
  progressive
• had been perching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will perch
  simple
• will have perched
  perfect
• will be perching
  progressive
• will have been perching
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of perch¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English perche, perdge, preche, from Old French, from Latin pertica “pole, staff, measuring rod”

Origin of perch²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English perche, from Middle French, from Latin perca, from Greek pérkē, feminine of adjective pérkos “having dark spots, spotted, speckled”

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Explanation

A perch is a temporary resting place. In the middle of climbing a tree, you might find a good perch on a high branch. Bet some birds will be perching there too. Perch has many different meanings. A bird perch is a little stick it can balance on, and the armrest of the couch can offer you a perch during a party. It's also the name of a kind of fish with spiny fins. And it's also an old measurement of 16.5 feet.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perch perches perched perching

The New York Mets sit at home — or more likely at lavish vacation destinations, given their perch at the top of baseball’s payrolls at $345.8 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

In 2021, the star staked out an East Coast perch, picking up a Brooklyn waterfront condo in the stunning Quay building, the New York Post reported.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

Ground-nesting birds such as hen harriers rely on open, treeless bog, safe from predators that would otherwise perch and watch for prey, while the wet ground breeds the invertebrates chicks are fed on.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

It operates out of a perch in Midtown Manhattan with sweeping views of Central Park.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

One day I entered the temple room where they slept and found Leylee dead, her claws stiff around her perch.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Laurie Bolewitz reads a spooky “tale” to sleepover guests as a black cat perches on a scratching post.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

On Centre Court he perches on the public seats on the lookout for any movement.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

From these suspended perches, scientists inspect thousands of broken objects and hundreds of elephant tusks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

Pistachio cold foam now perches atop iced coffees from nationwide chains, Dubai chocolate knock-offs sit at every grocery checkout stand and boutique patisseries fill croissants with pistachio butters and creams.

From Salon ● May 6, 2026

Blackbirds and squirrels cursed and wood-pigeons flew out of their leafy perches half a mile away.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

A woman was close by talking to him, she said, before "he jumped in and crawled in front of the tiger, where the tiger was perched and just lay there".

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

The house itself serves as a time capsule of Old Hollywood glitz and glamour, with sprawling gardens and terraced lawns perched on 8.4 acres overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

Jeanne de Montagnac, 29, stood by her husband and two-year-old daughter, perched on his shoulders with a telephone number scribbled in biro pen on her arm.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

The image shows most of the houses perched on this slope are now gone or covered in mud.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The fish thrashed frantically this way and that as they rose all the way to the top of the silk cotton tree, where the eagle perched on its nest.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

There was a time, the woman said, when rolling down the road meant perching on her husband’s back seat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

"One of the responding officers was able to gently coax the bird using food, and the parrot quickly became comfortable, even perching on the officer's hand and shoulder," the airport said in a statement.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

“Atlanta” built a Lynchian house for its “Teddy Perkins” episode, perching a namesake character buried under prosthetics within its dim innards.

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2025

They also discovered that the feet are acutely sensitive to touch and this touch had a large representation in the brain, presumably to help with perching.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024

She felt despair sit on her shoulders, as heavy as if the harpy herself were perching there.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

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Related Words

• alight
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