Showing results for "perched"

• past participle of perch.
• past tense form of perch.

perched

American  

[purcht] / pɜrtʃt /

adjective

1. (of a bird) resting on a perch, such as a branch, telephone wire, or fence, or a rod specially designed for the purpose.

   While hiking I caught sight of a perched owl near the trail.

2. settled or resting in a relatively high position, like a bird on a perch.

   The tour will stop for lunch in a perched village offering a splendid view of the entire French Riviera coastline.

3. Geology. (of a boulder or block) left on the top of a hill, ridge, etc., by ice that melted after carrying it there.

   As you continue hiking southeast, look out for the perched boulder overlooking a pond.

4. Geology.

   1. (of a lake) having a surface level at an unusually high elevation, well above that of aquifers and other bodies of water in the area, because it has formed on a dense, hardened layer of sand mixed with organic matter that traps water on top of it.

      Half of all the world’s known perched lakes are found on Australia’s Fraser Island.

   2. (of an aquifer) occurring above the regional water table, having been formed by an accumulation of groundwater that cannot permeate the underlying layer of clay or other dense soil.

      Perched aquifers are sometimes good water sources, but they tend to be relatively small and easily depleted with overpumping.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of perch.

Other Word Forms

• unperched
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of perched

First recorded in 1815–25; perch ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; perch ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perched

A lit candle flickered among the flowers, where a teddy bear was also perched.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Some seemingly solid financial trades are perched on fault lines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Estevez, her husband, two daughters, mother and 97-year-old grandmother were left perched on the third floor, with no way out.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

She watched intently perched on a bench at the very front of the room, at times shrieking and nudging her sister as she pointed at the cafe’s new large flat-screen that loomed overhead.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

There was a dozen of them perched all along his antlers, and he’d never looked happier.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Related Words

• alight
• squat
• touch down