latch

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See also: LATCH

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

  • enPR: lăch, IPA(key): /læt͡ʃ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ætʃ

Etymology 1

From 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).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched or (obsolete) laught)

  1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
  2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.
  3. (databases) To use a latch (kind of lightweight lock).
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English latche, lacche (a latch; a trap), from lacchen (to seize, catch, grasp), from Old English læċċan (to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize). See above for more.

Noun

latch (plural latches)

A latch
  1. 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.
  2. (electronics) An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
  3. (obsolete) A latching.
  4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
  5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
  6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
  7. (databases) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 3

Compare French lécher (to lick).

Verb

latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)

  1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
      But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes
      With the love-juice , as I did bid thee do?