lurch

1 of 5

verb (1)

lurched; lurching; lurches

intransitive verb

1
: to move with a lurch
suddenly lurched forward
also : stagger
has lurched from crisis to crisis Jere Longman
2
: to roll or tip abruptly : pitch

lurch

2 of 5

noun (1)

1
: an abrupt jerking, swaying, or tipping movement
the car moved forward with a lurch
2
: a sudden roll of a ship to one side

lurch

3 of 5

noun (2)

: a decisive defeat in which an opponent wins a game by more than double the defeated player's score especially in cribbage

lurch

4 of 5

verb (2)

lurched; lurching; lurches

transitive verb

1
: to defeat by a lurch (as in cribbage)
2
archaic : to leave in the lurch

lurch

5 of 5

verb (3)

lurched; lurching; lurches

intransitive verb

dialectal, chiefly England : to loiter about a place furtively : prowl

transitive verb

1
archaic : cheat
2
obsolete : steal
Phrases
in the lurch
: in a vulnerable and unsupported position
At the peak of the noonday rush the cashier stalked out and left him in the lurch.

Examples of lurch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
By then, Surf City had lurched closer to Van Der Mark’s red worldview. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024 The report stated that the camera then captured the car lurching toward a wooden barrier, reversing, turning to the left without stopping, and over the top of the limestone block wall. Sarah Dewberry, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024 Polls show Europe lurching toward the right ahead of elections for the 27-member bloc’s parliament this June. Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024 JetBlue stock lurched up by more than 6% in premarket trading Monday before trading up a little more than 1% after the market opened. William Gavin, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024 Truffle oil drizzled on anything is that monster on the hill slowly lurching toward my favorite food. Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2024 But this is music crying out for myrrh and matches: spacey, meandering sounds that wander around in search of a melody, occasionally find one, and then lurch off in another direction. David Browne, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2024 Suddenly, prosecutors say, Cosby lurched toward the car after pulling a pistol from his jacket. Charles Rabin, Miami Herald, 22 Feb. 2024 Instead, twin strikes, Marvel fatigue and a bumpy streaming market have left the company lurching into its second century. Laura Blasey, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2023
Noun
Elsewhere, subsidized programs often disappear when the money runs out, leaving the people most in need of transportation in the lurch and without core services. Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024 Freeway traffic shuffles, lurches, or, as in La La Land, gives up on the idea of going anywhere at all. Curbed, 29 Nov. 2023 As the wildest Mountain West race in history lurches into its final month, with, incredibly, seven teams at either three or four conference losses, the separation may come from who handles the madness the best. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2024 The back-and-forth has left Ohio families of transgender children in a lurch. Anumita Kaur, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024 Read more When Congress flirts with a government shutdown, student loan borrowers are left in the lurch. USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2024 The tumultuous developments this year left Russia in a lurch and scrambling at times for allies, munitions and soldiers to keep the war effort going; meanwhile, Ukraine failed to make the gains that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had promised, forcing a switch to more unsavory tactics. Peter Aitken, Fox News, 20 Dec. 2023 For-profit colleges have a history of controversy: In 2018, for example, the for-profit chain Education Corporation of America abruptly shut down nearly all of its schools after losing its accreditation, leaving some 20,000 students in the lurch. The New York Times, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024 The earth lurches and warps, sometimes slowly, sometimes rapidly, destroying homes and infrastructure along the way. Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lurch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

origin unknown

Noun (2) and Verb (2)

Middle French lourche, adjective, defeated by a lurch, deceived

Verb (3)

Middle English lorchen, probably alteration of lurken to lurk

First Known Use

Verb (1)

circa 1828, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun (1)

1805, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun (2)

1598, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

circa 1651, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb (3)

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of lurch was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near lurch

Cite this Entry

“Lurch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lurch. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lurch

1 of 3 noun
: an overwhelming defeat in a game (as cribbage)

lurch

2 of 3 noun
1
: a sudden roll of a ship to one side
2
: a sudden jerking, swaying, or tipping movement
the car gave a lurch
also : a staggering gait

lurch

3 of 3 verb
1
: to roll or tip suddenly
2
: to move with a lurch
suddenly lurched forward

More from Merriam-Webster on lurch

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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