lunge

¹

[luhnj]

noun

1. a sudden forward thrust, as with a sword or knife; stab.

2. any sudden forward movement; plunge.

   Synonyms: lurch, charge, rush

verb (used without object)

lunged, lunging 

1. to make a lunge or thrust; move with a lunge.

verb (used with object)

lunged, lunging 

1. to thrust (something) forward; cause to move with a lunge.

   lunging his finger accusingly.

lunge

²

[luhnj]

noun

lunged, lunging 

1. longe.

lunge

¹

/ lʌndʒ /

noun

1. a sudden forward motion

2. fencing a thrust made by advancing the front foot and straightening the back leg, extending the sword arm forwards

verb

1. to move or cause to move with a lunge

2. (intr) fencing to make a lunge

lunge

²

/ lʌndʒ /

noun

1. a rope used in training or exercising a horse

verb

1. (tr) to exercise or train (a horse) on a lunge

Other Word Forms

• lunger noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunge¹

1725–35; earlier longe for French allonge (noun; construed as a longe ), allonger (v.) to lengthen, extend, deliver (blows) < Vulgar Latin *allongāre, for Late Latin ēlongāre to elongate

Origin of lunge²

Variant of longe < French; longe, lune ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunge¹

C18: shortened form of obsolete C17 allonge, from French allonger to stretch out (one's arm), from Late Latin ēlongāre to lengthen. Compare _elongate

Origin of lunge²

C17: from Old French longe, shortened from allonge, ultimately from Latin longus _long ¹ ; related to _lunge ¹

Example Sentences

Shortly after Lowry lunged towards the fan on the 10th tee, one of these reminders was booed by the American fans around the 11th green.

From BBC

A knife-wielding Countdown champion lunged at a rival player and stabbed him at a fan club tournament.

From BBC

In her first interview since the attack, Ms Hopkin recalled grabbing the teenager who had lunged at her colleague with a knife as she shouted "I'm going to kill you".

From BBC

But when it mattered most — that being with 3.3 seconds to play and the Sparks trailing by one — Plum lowered her shoulder and slipped between swiping arms and lunging bodies.

From Los Angeles Times

But when she sees another dog, everything changes: she snarls, barks loud enough to startle a city block, and lunges with so much force it takes all my strength to hold her back.

From Salon

Related Words

• bound 
• leap 
• lurch 
• poke 
• stab 
• thrust