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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

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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

After scrambling in the water for food, this coot eventually caught a loach.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2023

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

Among others I noted that sand goby mentioned by Aristotle and commonly known by the name sea loach, which is encountered exclusively in the salty waters next to the Nile Delta.

From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by F. P. Walter

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

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025

Directed by Ken Loach and filmed in a documentary style, it followed a young couple's struggle with homelessness.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2025

Arnold’s work has always naturally drawn comparisons to that legendary chronicler of the downtrodden classes, Ken Loach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024

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

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

"Mrs. Octagon," went on the lawyer deliberately, "would never have consented to Miss Saxon becoming engaged to you had not Miss Loach insisted that she should agree."

From The Secret Passage by Fergus Hume

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