lurch Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an unsteady uneven gait
    stagger; stumble.
  2. noun a decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage)
  3. noun abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance)
    pitching; pitch.
    • the pitching and tossing was quite exciting
  4. noun the act of moving forward suddenly
    lunge.
  5. verb walk as if unable to control one's movements
    swag; stagger; keel; careen; reel.
    • The drunken man staggered into the room
  6. verb move abruptly
    shift; pitch.
    • The ship suddenly lurched to the left
  7. verb move slowly and unsteadily
    • The truck lurched down the road
  8. verb loiter about, with no apparent aim
    prowl.
  9. verb defeat by a lurch
    skunk.

WordNet

Lurch intransitive verb
Etymology
L. lurcare, lurcari.
Definitions
  1. To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up. Obs.
    Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear. Bacon.
Lurch noun
Etymology
OF. lourche name of a game; as adj., deceived, embarrassed.
Definitions
  1. An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
  2. A double score in cribbage for the winner when his adversary has been left in the lurch.
    Lady --- has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch. Walpole.
Lurch transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To leave in the lurch; to cheat. Obs.
    Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant. South.
  2. To steal; to rob. Obs.
    And in the brunt of seventeen battles since He lurched all swords of the garland. Shak.
Lurch noun
Etymology
Cf. W. llerch, llerc, a frisk, a frisking backward or forward, a loitering, a lurking, a lurking, llercian, llerciaw, to be idle, to frisk; or perh. fr. E. lurch to lurk.
Definitions
  1. A sudden roll of a ship to one side, as in heavy weather; hence, a swaying or staggering movement to one side, as that by a drunken man. Fig.: A sudden and capricious inclination of the mind.
Lurch intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Lurched ; present participle & verbal noun Lurching
Definitions
  1. To roll or sway suddenly to one side, as a ship or a drunken man.
Lurch intransitive verb
Etymology
A variant of lurk.
Definitions
  1. To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lurk. L'Estrange.
  2. To dodge; to shift; to play tricks.
    I . . . am fain to shuffle, to hedge, and to lurch. Shak.

Webster 1913