loch
Americannoun
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a lake.
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a partially landlocked or protected bay; a narrow arm of the sea.
noun
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a Scot word for lake 1
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Also called: sea loch. a long narrow bay or arm of the sea in Scotland
Etymology
Origin of loch
1350–1400; Middle English ( Scots ) louch, locht < Scots Gaelic loch, Old Irish loch lake, cognate with Latin lacus, Old English lagu; see lake 1, lough
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bird was photographed flying over Loch Spelve, a sea loch on the south-east coast of Mull.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Two women, age 24 and 26, have died after a diving trip at a Scottish loch.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
"I was out running on Thursday night and could smell it the further up the loch I got," she said.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
The castle was built for the MacLeods of Assynt in 1597 on the north side of the loch, which lies within a vast area of hills and mountains.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025
He felt silly asking, because the only loch he’d ever heard of was Loch Ness, where Nessie the Loch Ness Monster was said to live.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
