latch

[ lach ]

/ lætʃ /

noun

a device for holding a door, gate, or the like, closed, consisting basically of a bar falling or sliding into a catch, groove, hole, etc.

verb (used with object)

to close or fasten with a latch.

verb (used without object)

to close tightly so that the latch is secured: The door won't latch.

Verb Phrases

latch on,

to grab or hold on, as to an object or idea, especially tightly or tenaciously.
to include or add in; attach: If we latch the tax on, the bill will come to over $100.

latch onto, Informal.

to take possession of; obtain; get.
to acquire understanding of; comprehend.
to attach oneself to; join in with: The stray dog latched onto the children and wouldn't go home.

Nearby words

lat, lat., latah, latakia, latam, latch, latch hook, latch needle, latch on, latch onto, latchet

Origin of latch

before 950; 1930–35 for def 5; Middle English lacchen, Old English lǣccan to take hold of, catch, seize; akin to Greek lázesthai to take

Related forms

re·latch, verb (used with object)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for latches

Message discipline: When he latches on to a topic, he is unstoppable, but he sometimes wanders too far.
Beware Ron Paul|Mark McKinnon|July 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
We had to bolt doors,—latches were nothing,—and bar shutters.
We Girls: A Home Story|Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney
Some churches had lead roofs and iron hinges, latches, and locks on their doors.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed.|S. A. Reilly
There were latches and bolts for doors and locks for chests, drawers, and cabinets.
The Old Furniture Book|N. Hudson Moore

The doors had latches with strings hanging outside; by pulling in the string within-doors the house was securely locked.
Home Life in Colonial Days|Alice Morse Earle
But beside shoeing horses and oxen, the blacksmith made all kinds of implements, andirons, latches and hinges for doors.
Ben Comee|M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan

British Dictionary definitions for latches

latch

/ (lætʃ) /

noun

a fastening for a gate or door that consists of a bar that may be slid or lowered into a groove, hole, etc

a spring-loaded door lock that can be opened by a key from outside

Also called: latch circuit electronics a logic circuit that transfers the input states to the output states when signalled, the output thereafter remaining insensitive to changes in input status until signalled again

verb

to fasten, fit, or be fitted with or as if with a latch

Word Origin for latch

Old English læccan to seize, of Germanic origin; related to Greek lazesthai

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