culch

or cultch

[ kuhlch ]

noun
  1. the stones, old shells, etc., forming an oyster bed and furnishing points of attachment for the spawn of oysters.

  2. the spawn of oysters.

  1. Also sculch, scultch [skuhlch] /skʌltʃ/ .Eastern New England. rubbish; refuse: The attic has been a convenient depository for more than 80 years of culch.

verb (used with object)
  1. to prepare (an oyster bed) with culch.

Origin of culch

1
First recorded in 1660–70; perhaps metathetic variant of clutch2; but note Old French culche couch

Words Nearby culch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use culch in a sentence

  • A sort of pavement of culch, on the mud of estuaries, for forming a bed for oysters.

    The Sailor's Word-Book | William Henry Smyth

British Dictionary definitions for culch

culch

cultch

/ (kʌltʃ) /


noun
  1. a mass of broken stones, shells, and gravel that forms the basis of an oyster bed

  2. the oyster spawn attached to such a structure

  1. dialect refuse; rubbish

Origin of culch

1
C17: perhaps ultimately from Old French culche bed, couch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012