lunge

[ luhnj ]

/ lʌndʒ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lunge ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

any sudden forward movement; plunge.

verb (used without object), lunged, lung·ing.

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

verb (used with object), lunged, lung·ing.

to thrust (something) forward; cause to move with a lunge: lunging his finger accusingly.

Nearby words

lunette, lung, lung book, lung fluke, lungan, lunge, lungee, lungeous, lunger, lungfish, lungi

Origin of lunge

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

SYNONYMS FOR lunge

2 rush, charge, lurch.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lunge ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confused

long longe lounge lunge

Definition for lunge (2 of 2)

lunge

[ luhnj ]

/ lʌndʒ /

noun, verb, lunged, lung·ing.

longe.

Origin of lunge

variant of longe < French; see longe, lune²

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

Examples from the Web for lunge

Dawn Hochsprung was a beloved principal who lost her life trying to lunge at the gunman.
Newtown Victims: Dawn Hochsprung, Vicki Soto & More|Nina Strochlic|December 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Think like a fencer: parry on Medicare; lunge at the stimulus.
How Do You Win the VP Debate?|David Frum|October 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In effect, what I did was lunge and force the issue, thereby ruining the mood.
The Love Guru|Sean Macaulay|September 13, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Then with a lunge he drove the knife into Gulden's burly neck.
The Border Legion|Zane Grey

You have only to lean it against a certain point in a man's anatomy, lunge ever so little and the whole thing is done.
The Evil Shepherd|E. Phillips Oppenheim
St. George made a lunge toward the speaker as if to strike him.
Kennedy Square|F. Hopkinson Smith
The steel rings, the bucklers clash, the parry and lunge pass and answer too swift for the sight.
Essays in Little|Andrew Lang
He was called the best swords man at Saint-Cyr: he has the devil of a lunge.
Gerfaut, Complete|Charles de Bernard

British Dictionary definitions for lunge (1 of 2)

lunge

/ (lʌndʒ) /

noun

a sudden forward motion

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

verb

to move or cause to move with a lunge

(intr) fencing to make a lunge

Derived Forms

lunger, noun

Word Origin for lunge

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

British Dictionary definitions for lunge (2 of 2)

lunge

/ (lʌndʒ) /

noun

a rope used in training or exercising a horse

verb

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

Word Origin for lunge

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

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