WORDLE ENGLISH
lurch
noun
lurch—a sudden, unsteady movement or shift, often forward or to one side
/lɜːt͡ʃ/, /lɜɹt͡ʃ/
Origin
Originally a nautical term, found in lee-larches (“the sudden and violent rolls of a ship to the leeward in high seas”), of unknown origin. Possibly the same as lurch (“to move stealthily, evade by stooping”) (see below), or from French lâcher (“to let go”).
noun
- A sudden or unsteady movement.“the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard”“The ship was driving rapidly towards the rocky coast, against which she must have been dashed to pieces had she kept afloat a few minutes longer, but she gave a lurch and went down, rose again for an ”“Yet I hoped by grouting at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one sid”
- dialectalA lift or heave.
- countable, uncountableA predicament or difficult situation.“to leave someone in the lurch”
- countable, uncountableAn old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
- countable, uncountableA double score in cribbage for the winner when their adversary has not yet pegged their 31st hole.“August 14, 1784, Horace Walpole, letter to the Hon. H. S. Conway Lady Blandford has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch.”
verb
- To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.“It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion stairs into the cabin.”“The incident made it think, apparently, that the neighborhood was dangerous, for it slowly lurched off through the wood, followed by its mate and its three enormous infants.”“Number One lurched forward, his arms outstretched toward the horror stricken girl.”
- obsoleteTo swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.“Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.”
- dialectal, intransitiveTo evade by stooping; to lurk; lie in wait; go about in a sneaking way.
- dialectal, intransitiveTo take by surprise; to unexpectedly detain.
- obsolete, transitiveTo rob.“And in the brunt of seventeen battles since / He lurched all swords of the garland.”
- transitiveTo defeat in the game of cribbage with a lurch (double score as explained under noun entry).
- obsolete, transitiveTo leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.“Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.”
Formslurches(plural) · lurches(present, singular, third-person) · lurching(participle, present) · lurched(participle, past) · lurched(past) · lorch(alternative)
Appeared In
Daily Puzzle #1716 · March 1, 2026
Daily Puzzle #704 · May 24, 2023
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