lurch

¹

[lurch]

noun

1. an act or instance of swaying abruptly.

2. an awkward, swaying or staggering motion or gait.

3. a sudden tip or roll to one side, as of a ship or a staggering person.

verb (used without object)

1. to make a lurch; move with lurches; stagger.

   The wounded man lurched across the room.

   Synonyms: totter, reel, lunge

2. (of a ship) to roll or pitch suddenly.

lurch

²

[lurch]

noun

1. a situation at the close of various games in which the loser scores nothing or is far behind the opponent.

lurch

³

[lurch]

verb (used without object)

1. British Dialect.,  to lurk near a place; prowl.

verb (used with object)

1. Archaic.,  to do out of; defraud; cheat.

2. Obsolete.,  to acquire through underhanded means; steal; filch.

noun

1. Archaic.,  the act of lurking or state of watchfulness.

lurch

¹

/ lɜːtʃ /

verb

1. to lean or pitch suddenly to one side

2. to stagger or sway

noun

1. the act or an instance of lurching

lurch

²

/ lɜːtʃ /

noun

1. to desert someone in trouble

2. cribbage the state of a losing player with less than 30 points at the end of a game (esp in the phrase in the lurch )

lurch

³

/ lɜːtʃ /

verb

1. archaic,  (intr) to prowl or steal about suspiciously

Other Word Forms

• lurchingly adverb
• lurching adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lurch¹

First recorded in 1800–10; origin uncertain

Origin of lurch²

First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French lourche a game, noun use of lourche (adjective) “defeated,” from a Germanic language; compare Middle High German lurz “left (hand); wrong,” lürzen “to deceive,” Old English belyrtan “to deceive”

Origin of lurch³

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English lorchen “to skulk,” apparently variant of lurken lurk

Word History and Origins

Origin of lurch¹

C19: origin unknown

Origin of lurch²

C16: from French lourche a game similar to backgammon, apparently from lourche (adj) deceived, probably of Germanic origin

Origin of lurch³

C15: perhaps a variant of _lurk

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. leave in the lurch, to leave in an uncomfortable or desperate situation; desert in time of trouble.

   Our best salesperson left us in the lurch at the peak of the busy season.

see leave in the lurch.

Example Sentences

They lurched from the brilliant to the baffling.

Read more on BBC

"Meanwhile, schools here continue to lurch from crisis to crisis... Israel has bombed nearly every school in Gaza out of existence and murdered tens of thousands of children."

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Elordi has adopted one or two of Karloff’s mannerisms: the arms outstretched in search of warmth, the lurching walk.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In the previous months, she had met with a succession of Nepali foreign ministers and prime ministers as governments collapsed and the country lurched through political turmoil.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ron’s quest lurches and retreats often enough for the audience and Robinson’s hero to wonder whether he’ll be able to land this thing safely without destroying his safe Midwestern life.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• bumble 
• careen 
• falter 
• flounder 
• heave 
• jerk 
• lean 
• reel 
• seesaw 
• stagger 
• stumble 
• sway 
• teeter 
• tilt 
• totter 
• wallow 
• wobble