lurch

• (General American) enPR: lûrch, IPA^(key): /lɝt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US):

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• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lûrch, IPA^(key): /lɜːt͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tʃ

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”).

lurch (plural lurches)

1. A sudden or unsteady movement.

   the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard

   • 1850, William O. S. Gilly, “The Tribune”, in Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy ‎, London: John W. Parker:

     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 instant, and with another lurch sank, and all was over,—and there were nearly two hundred and fifty human beings struggling with the waves.

   • , J Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     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 side, and I was left in darkness.

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Strike the Jolly Roger”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World , London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in The Monster Men‎, published 1929:

     Number One lurched forward, his arms outstretched toward the horror stricken girl.

   • 1919, W Somerset Maugham, chapter XLVII, in The Moon and Sixpence, : Grosset & Dunlap Publishers , →OCLC:

     He was looking for trouble. He lurched against a table at which three soldiers were sitting and knocked over a glass of beer.

• leave someone in the lurch, left in the lurch
• Lurch in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

From Middle English *lurchen (recorded only in Middle English lurcare, lurcard (“glutton”)), from Old French *lurcher, from Latin lurcō (“eat greedily, guzzle”), of uncertain origin. Compare Middle High German slurken (“to slurp”) (whence German schlurken).

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. (obsolete) To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.
   • 1625, Francis , “Of Building”, in The Essayes  Verulam, Viscount St. Alban. Newly Written.">…], 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.

From Middle English lorchen, variant of Middle English lurken (“to lurk”). More at lurk.

• lorch

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. (dialectal, intransitive) To evade by stooping; to lurk; lie in wait; go about in a sneaking way.
2. (dialectal, intransitive) To take by surprise; to unexpectedly detain.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To rob.
   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     And in the brunt of seventeen battles since / He lurched all swords of the garland.

lurch (plural lurches)

1. (dialectal) A lift or heave.

From Middle English *lurche (implied in derivative lurching), from Old French lourche (“deceived, embarrassed; also the name of a game”), from Proto-West Germanic *lort (“left; left-handed; crooked; bent; warped; underhanded; deceitful; limping”). Cognate to English lirt.

lurch (countable and uncountable, plural lurches)

1. A predicament or difficult situation.

   to leave someone in the lurch

2. An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
3. A 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.

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. (transitive) To defeat in the game of cribbage with a lurch (double score as explained under noun entry).
2. (obsolete, transitive) To leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.
   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

     Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “lurch”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• churl