Showing results for "perched"

• past participle of perch.
• past tense form of perch.

perched

American  

[purcht] / pɜrtʃt /

adjective

1. (of a bird) resting on a perch, such as a branch, telephone wire, or fence, or a rod specially designed for the purpose.

   While hiking I caught sight of a perched owl near the trail.

2. settled or resting in a relatively high position, like a bird on a perch.

   The tour will stop for lunch in a perched village offering a splendid view of the entire French Riviera coastline.

3. Geology. (of a boulder or block) left on the top of a hill, ridge, etc., by ice that melted after carrying it there.

   As you continue hiking southeast, look out for the perched boulder overlooking a pond.

4. Geology.

   1. (of a lake) having a surface level at an unusually high elevation, well above that of aquifers and other bodies of water in the area, because it has formed on a dense, hardened layer of sand mixed with organic matter that traps water on top of it.

      Half of all the world’s known perched lakes are found on Australia’s Fraser Island.

   2. (of an aquifer) occurring above the regional water table, having been formed by an accumulation of groundwater that cannot permeate the underlying layer of clay or other dense soil.

      Perched aquifers are sometimes good water sources, but they tend to be relatively small and easily depleted with overpumping.

---

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of perch.

Other Word Forms

• unperched
  adjective

---

Etymology

Origin of perched

First recorded in 1815–25; perch ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; perch ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perched

So, how has an island perched off Australia's northern tip become so obsessed with the sport?

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Others perched on the wall surrounding the elevator exit of a closed-off metro station.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

A temporary traffic sign perched on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles appears to have been hacked earlier this month to display a link to a pro-Iran website.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Parkinson photographed a black vulture perched over a dead yacaré caiman in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands, keeping his boat at a distance and using a long telephoto lens to capture the shot.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

I perched on the edge of the wooden bench, my head propped in my hands.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• alight
• squat
• touch down

---