notch

[ noch ]

/ nɒtʃ /

noun

an angular or V-shaped cut, indentation, or slit in an object, surface, or edge.

a cut or nick made in a stick or other object for record, as in keeping a tally.

New England and Upstate New York. a deep, narrow opening or pass between mountains; gap; defile.

Informal. a step, degree, or grade: This camera is a notch better than the other.

Metallurgy. a taphole in a blast furnace: iron notch; cinder notch.

verb (used with object)

to cut or make a notch in.

to record by notches: He notched each kill on the stick.

to score, as in a game: He notched another win.

Nearby words

Idioms

notch up/down, to move up or down or increase or decrease by notches or degrees: The temperature has notched up another degree.

Origin of notch

1570–80; a notch (by false division) for an *otch < Old French oche notch

Related formsnotch·y, adjectiveun·notched, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for notchy

Notchy—a creek entering Tellico river, in Monroe county, Tennessee.
Myths of the Cherokee|James Mooney

British Dictionary definitions for notchy

notchy

/ (ˈnɒtʃɪ) /

adjective

(of a motor vehicle gear mechanism) requiring careful gear-changing, as if having to fit the lever into narrow notches

notch

/ (nɒtʃ) /

noun

a V-shaped cut or indentation; nick

a cut or nick made in a tally stick or similar object

US and Canadian a narrow pass or gorge

informal a step or level (esp in the phrase a notch above)

verb (tr)

to cut or make a notch in

to record with or as if with a notch

(usually foll by up) informal to score or achievethe team notched up its fourth win

Word Origin for notch

C16: from incorrect division of an otch (as a notch), from Old French oche notch, from Latin obsecāre to cut off, from secāre to cut

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

Word Origin and History for notchy

notch

1590s, from notch (n.). Earlier verb (before misdivision) was Middle English ochen "to cut, slash" (c.1400). Related: Notched; notching.

notch

1570s, probably a misdivision of an otch (see N for other examples), from Middle French oche "notch," from Old French ochier "to notch," of unknown origin. Said to be unconnected to nock.

Medicine definitions for notchy

notch

[ nŏch ]

n.

An indentation at the edge of a structure; an incisure.

An upstroke or peak on a pulse tracing.

Idioms and Phrases with notchy

notch

see take down a notch.