Showing results for "perched"

• past tense form of perch.
• past participle 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

Parkinson photographed a black vulture perched over a dead yacaré caiman in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands, keeping his boat at a distance and using a long telephoto lens to capture the shot.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

In the seaside resort of Palma de Majorca in the Balearic Islands, tourists, many in swimsuits, some standing in the water, watched the eclipse closely, protective glasses perched on noses.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Jackie and her mate, Shadow, delighted millions of viewers as stars of a nonstop livestream of their nest, perched high in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

One person sits in concentrated silence at each window, another perched in the back of the pick-up truck, ducking for the occasional limb branching from trees which rise around us.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 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