/læt͡ʃ/
OriginFrom Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).
- To close or lock as if with a latch.
- transitiveTo catch; lay hold of.
“Where hearing should not latch them.”
- To use a latch (kind of lightweight lock).
- To connect to the breast.
- obsoleteTo smear; to anoint.
“But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes
With the love-juice , as I did bid thee do?”
- A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
“The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.”
- An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
- obsoleteA latching.
- obsoleteA crossbow.
- obsoleteThat which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
“Love will none other birde catch,
Though he set either nette or latch”
- A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
- A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.
- abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountableAcronym of lower anchors and tethers for children.
Formslatches(present, singular, third-person) · latching(participle, present) · latched(participle, past) · latched(past) · laught(obsolete, participle, past) · laught(obsolete, past) · latches(plural) · lech(alternative) · letch(alternative)