1
as in sways
to make a series of unsteady side-to-side motions
the room lurched with every jolt of the earthquake
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in staggers
to move forward while swaying from side to side
dressed in his zombie costume, the boy lurched down the street in his quest for Halloween candy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lurches
Joe Reid, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
That film begins with charismatic bank robber Ryan Gosling in a thrilling motorcycle escape from the cops, and moves through several twists and turns, lurches forward in time, and holds Gosling at its heart as a man doing bad things for good reasons.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lurches
Verb
-
The museum gets off with a bang by taking guests on a simulated trip to space in a high-tech elevator lined with pin-sharp ultra-HD screens and a floor which gently sways to simulate zero gravity.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Yet, across the water, a seemingly impenetrable wall of the invasive plants sways in the wind, several feet tall.—
Adriana Pérez,
Chicago Tribune,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Make the most of the shoulder seasons Almost all schools in England enjoy the long summer break at the same time (unlike in Scotland, which staggers its school vacation time for each region).—
Lottie Gross,
AFAR Media,
29 Aug. 2025
-
The agency staggers payments across the month to manage the large volume of recipients.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Last season evolved into a 6-11 record beneath a year-long black cloud of injuries, personal traumas, fourth-quarter collapses, defensive deficiencies, and special-teams chaos.—
Cam Inman,
Mercury News,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Without adaptation, profitability collapses and solvency risks rise.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
There are two key differences between the pairs, with the first being that the OG rocks a wraparound ankle strap, while the lookalike has a slingback design.—
Katie Decker-Jacoby,
StyleCaster,
9 Sep. 2025
-
After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, a lack of suspects prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to team up with Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.—
Leia Mendoza,
Variety,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The storm also left people trapped in seven vehicles on nearby roads after overflowing creeks caused washouts, deputies said.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The agency expects to hire 8,900 new air traffic controllers by 2028, but because of factors like attrition, retirements and program washouts, this will only result in 1,000 more certified controllers, according to FAA documents.—
Danielle Chemtob,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Bear swims to the exit, and shakes off his wet fur.—
Rachael O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Uranus’ retrograde in your zone of foundations and roots shakes you to your core!—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, Kevin Costner’s Waterworld, Disney’s John Carter and, well, Cats, are a few major flops that audiences seemed to delight in, even if most people never saw the films themselves.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Stiller recently stopped by The Prof G Pod With Scott Galloway to discuss the breakthroughs, hits, and flops throughout his time in Hollywood.—
Daysia Tolentino,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
However, the Tigers managed two top-10 upsets.—
Brady Shanahan,
Kansas City Star,
9 Sep. 2025
-
With multiple overtime games, upsets and close calls, Week 2 provided a lot of reasons to shake up this week’s edition of The Athletic 136, just not at the top.—
Chris Vannini,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lurches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lurches. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share