I. ˈlərch, -ə̄ch, -əich verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English lorchen, probably alteration of lurken to lurk — more at lurk
intransitive verb
1. dialect chiefly England : to loiter about a place furtively : prowl , sneak
lurch about the place looking sinister — Anthony Carson
2. obsolete : cheat , steal
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to obtain by fraud or stealth : filch , steal
put lately into many men's heads … his own ambitious ends to lurch a crown — John Milton
2. archaic : to do out of something : cheat , rob
in the brunt of seventeen battles … he lurched all swords of the garland — Shakespeare
II. noun
( -es )
archaic : an act of lurching or a state of watchful readiness
the enemy of human happiness, always lying at lurch to make prey of the young — J.P.Kennedy †1870
III. noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle French lourche, n., a game & lourche, adjective, deceived, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Middle High German lerz, lurz left, located on the left side, lürzen to deceive — more at lordosis
1. obsolete : an act or instance of cheating : fraud
2. obsolete
a. : an act or instance of discomfiture : setback , rout
b. : one's sphere of control : power
David, when he had Saul in his lurch , might … have cut off his head — Thomas Goodwin
3.
a. : a decisive defeat in which a player wins a game by more than twice his opponent's score ; specifically : a defeat in which a player wins a cribbage game before his opponent has progressed halfway toward the goal — compare gammon , rubicon
b. obsolete : an old game that may have resembled backgammon
•
- in the lurch
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
1. : to defeat by a lurch (as in cribbage) — compare skunk
2. archaic : to leave in the lurch : disappoint , desert
fortune … hath lurched generals in her time — Sporting Magazine
V. noun
( -es )
Etymology: origin unknown
1.
a. : a sudden roll of a ship to one side (as in heavy weather)
b. : an act or instance of swaying or tipping
a sudden lurch of the vehicle threw the two men together — John Morrison
felt a great lurch of joy — Marcia Davenport
c. : a gait characterized by a sway or stagger
walk with the same slow, complacent lurch — Rebecca West
2. : bent , drift , inclination , tendency , urge
showed a decided lurch toward a solitary life
VI. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
1.
a. : to roll or tip abruptly : cant , pitch
the schooner lurched in the uneasy chop — Kenneth Roberts
ramshackle outbuildings, lurching rose arches — Elizabeth Taylor
the glen seemed to lurch forward and become a defile — John Buchan
b. : to move with a series of lurches : careen , sway
landing craft lurched toward shore — Time
international group … lurched for days over lunar roads to watch the sacred right of franchise exercised — Punch
she slouched off … the cub lurching along contentedly beside her — C.G.D.Roberts
2.
a. : to move unsteadily or in a series of stops and starts : stagger
a visiting … celebrity, somewhat bemused by whiskey, lurched across the room — Ian Bevan
horses lurching in deep mud — Adrian Bell
b. : to give a sudden or involuntary movement : jerk , lunge
rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and lurched upright — Julian Dana
lurched forward with a bullet in his head — E.V.Burkholder
the pain lurched in him — Ernest Hemingway
3. : to move in an awkward or uncertain fashion : blunder , stumble
we're not all … lurching along on mere instinct — Anne D. Sedgwick
Congress lurched toward adjournment — Time