notch
Americannoun
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notches
plural
-
an angular or V -shaped cut, indentation, or slit in an object, surface, or edge.
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a cut or nick made in a stick or other object for record, as in keeping a tally.
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New England and Upstate New York. a deep, narrow opening or pass between mountains; gap; defile.
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Informal. a step, degree, or grade.
This camera is a notch better than the other.
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Metallurgy. a taphole in a blast furnace.
iron notch; cinder notch.
verb (used with object)
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notches,
present (3rd person singular)
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notched,
past participle, past
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notching
present participle
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to cut or make a notch in.
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to record by notches.
He notched each kill on the stick.
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to score, as in a game.
He notched another win.
idioms
noun
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a V-shaped cut or indentation; nick
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a cut or nick made in a tally stick or similar object
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a narrow pass or gorge
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informal a step or level (esp in the phrase a notch above )
verb
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to cut or make a notch in
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to record with or as if with a notch
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informal (usually foll by up) to score or achieve
the team notched up its fourth win
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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notchsimple
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notchessimple
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have notchedperfect
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has notchedperfect
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am notchingprogressive
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are notchingprogressive
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is notchingprogressive
-
have been notchingperfect progressive
-
has been notchingperfect progressive
Past
-
notchedsimple
-
had notchedperfect
-
was notchingprogressive
-
were notchingprogressive
-
had been notchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of notch
1570–80; a notch (by false division) for an *otch < Old French oche notch
Explanation
A notch is a small cut or nick in something. People make notches to keep track of things. If you've even seen a little U-shaped or V-shaped cut in something, you've seen a notch. In prison, criminals will make notches on the wall to keep track of how long they've been there. If you're stranded on a desert island, you might make notches on a tree. When you make a notch, you're notching. A notch is also part of a mountain range that is lower than the peaks around it — also called a mountain pass.
Vocabulary lists containing notch
This Week in Words : December 23 - 29, 2017
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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.
See Examples For:
Tongue probably did not mean to imply Root brings a greater calmness than Stokes, yet few would argue he has taken the intensity down a notch or two.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Pandemic-stimulus funds from the federal government and more-disciplined pension-fund contributions helped the city rise out of non-investment-grade status with Moody’s, to a level one notch above junk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Nicknamed "the Glooper" for his cries of "Gloop! Gloop!" after each strike, Godin spent more than three decades lobbing pies at rich and famous targets he felt needed bringing down a notch.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Yet in September, corporate borrowers already stressing the market with a huge supply of new bonds to finance the artificial-intelligence build-out are expected to kick things up a notch.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
At two months out, he turned it up another notch, beginning almost every sentence with, “When I get a dog....”
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
The authors estimated that private ratings are effectively two to three notches more favorable than public ratings with comparable impairment risk.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Even more striking, in more than 500 wild primates, across 27 species both living and fossil, we found no trace of a common modern dental disease: deep, V-shaped gumline notches called abfraction lesions.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
Mohamed Salah's latest unprompted public outburst will ratchet up the pressure on struggling Liverpool head coach Arne Slot by several notches.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
The stock at 18 times forward earnings, down from a 2026 peak of 22 times, a few notches below the S&P 500 and below Home Depot’s just over 21 times.
From Barron's ● May 8, 2026
The flattening of the third and seventh notches on the scale is consistent with centuries-old African melody modes, memories of which had clearly not been lost among the children and grandchildren of slaves.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
On Friday, Microsoft’s stock notched its sixth straight session of gains — rising 6.7% over that multiday period, and cementing its longest winning streak since Oct.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
After years of layoffs, cash burn and political attacks on its core technology, Moderna’s melanoma vaccine data notched the biotech company a much-needed win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Abubakar took 29 percent and Obi notched 25 percent.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Wisley in Surrey has now notched up 60 days with no recorded rainfall.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
I pulled in the line and wrapped it on a stick notched at each end.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
Buoyed by Nvidia’s rosy outlook for semiconductor sales next year, the S&P 500’s information technology sector was the lone industry in the green, notching a 3.4% gain that pushed the broad index up 0.7%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Nvidia shares surged 8.7%, notching their biggest gain in more than a year after Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress projected 70% revenue growth in the company’s 2028 fiscal year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
In terms of average temperatures over that 60-day period, the picture was mixed, he said, with some areas falling in the middle of the pack compared with previous years and others notching notable heat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Americans took out almost $211 billion in auto loans this past spring, notching a new record, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Speedily notching shafts to their strings, the archers angled their bows upwards.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
