lurch


Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to lurch: leave in the lurch

lurch 1

 (lûrch)
intr.v. lurched, lurch·ing, lurch·es
1.
a. To make an abrupt sudden movement: The train lurched and moved away from the platform.
b. To move with abrupt movements; move haltingly or jerkily. See Synonyms at blunder.
2. To roll or pitch suddenly or erratically: The ship lurched in the storm. The car gave a start and then lurched forward.
n.
1. A staggering or tottering movement or gait.
2. An abrupt rolling or pitching.

[Origin unknown.]

lurch′ing·ly adv.

lurch 2

 (lûrch)
n.
The losing position of a cribbage player who has not passed the halfway mark at the end of the game.
Idiom:
in the lurch
In a difficult or embarrassing position.

[Perhaps back-formation from Middle English lurching, a total victory at lorche, a kind of game; perhaps akin to lurken, to lurk; see lurk.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lurch

(lɜːtʃ)
vb (intr)
1. to lean or pitch suddenly to one side
2. to stagger or sway
n
the act or an instance of lurching
[C19: origin unknown]
ˈlurching adj

lurch

(lɜːtʃ)
n
1. leave someone in the lurch to desert someone in trouble
2. (Card Games) cribbage the state of a losing player with less than 30 points at the end of a game (esp in the phrase in the lurch)
[C16: from French lourche a game similar to backgammon, apparently from lourche (adj) deceived, probably of Germanic origin]

lurch

(lɜːtʃ)
vb
(intr) archaic or dialect to prowl or steal about suspiciously
[C15: perhaps a variant of lurk]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lurch1

(lɜrtʃ)
n.
1. an act or instance of swaying abruptly.
2. a sudden tip or roll to one side, as of a ship.
3. an awkward, swaying or staggering motion or gait.
v.i.
4. (of a ship) to roll or pitch suddenly.
5. to stagger or sway.
[1760–70]
lurch′ing•ly, adv.

lurch2

(lɜrtʃ)

n.
a situation at the close of various games in which the loser scores nothing or is far behind the opponent.
Idioms:
leave in the lurch, to desert when help is needed most.
[1525–35; < Middle French lourche a game, n. use of lourche (adj.) discomfited < Germanic; compare Middle High German lurz left (hand), Old English belyrtan to deceive]

lurch3

(lɜrtʃ)
v.t.
1. Archaic. to defraud; cheat.
2. Obs. to steal; filch.
v.i.
3. Brit. Dial. to lurk near a place.
n.
4. Archaic. a state of watchfulness.
[1375–1425; late Middle English lorchen, appar. variant of lurken to lurk]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lurch

 of buses—Lipton, 1970.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

lurch


Past participle: lurched
Gerund: lurching

Imperative
lurch
lurch
Present
I lurch
you lurch
he/she/it lurches
we lurch
you lurch
they lurch
Preterite
I lurched
you lurched
he/she/it lurched
we lurched
you lurched
they lurched
Present Continuous
I am lurching
you are lurching
he/she/it is lurching
we are lurching
you are lurching
they are lurching
Present Perfect
I have lurched
you have lurched
he/she/it has lurched
we have lurched
you have lurched
they have lurched
Past Continuous
I was lurching
you were lurching
he/she/it was lurching
we were lurching
you were lurching
they were lurching
Past Perfect
I had lurched
you had lurched
he/she/it had lurched
we had lurched
you had lurched
they had lurched
Future
I will lurch
you will lurch
he/she/it will lurch
we will lurch
you will lurch
they will lurch
Future Perfect
I will have lurched
you will have lurched
he/she/it will have lurched
we will have lurched
you will have lurched
they will have lurched
Future Continuous
I will be lurching
you will be lurching
he/she/it will be lurching
we will be lurching
you will be lurching
they will be lurching
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been lurching
you have been lurching
he/she/it has been lurching
we have been lurching
you have been lurching
they have been lurching
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been lurching
you will have been lurching
he/she/it will have been lurching
we will have been lurching
you will have been lurching
they will have been lurching
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been lurching
you had been lurching
he/she/it had been lurching
we had been lurching
you had been lurching
they had been lurching
Conditional
I would lurch
you would lurch
he/she/it would lurch
we would lurch
you would lurch
they would lurch
Past Conditional
I would have lurched
you would have lurched
he/she/it would have lurched
we would have lurched
you would have lurched
they would have lurched
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.lurch - an unsteady uneven gaitlurch - an unsteady uneven gait    
gait - a person's manner of walking
2.lurch - a decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage)
defeat, licking - an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest; "it was a narrow defeat"; "the army's only defeat"; "they suffered a convincing licking"
3.lurch - abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance); "the pitching and tossing was quite exciting"
movement, motility, motion, move - a change of position that does not entail a change of location; "the reflex motion of his eyebrows revealed his surprise"; "movement is a sign of life"; "an impatient move of his hand"; "gastrointestinal motility"
careen, sway, tilt, rock - pitching dangerously to one side
ship - a vessel that carries passengers or freight
4.lurch - the act of moving forward suddenlylurch - the act of moving forward suddenly  
movement, move, motion - the act of changing location from one place to another; "police controlled the motion of the crowd"; "the movement of people from the farms to the cities"; "his move put him directly in my path"
Verb1.lurch - walk as if unable to control one's movements; "The drunken man staggered into the room"
walk - use one's feet to advance; advance by steps; "Walk, don't run!"; "We walked instead of driving"; "She walks with a slight limp"; "The patient cannot walk yet"; "Walk over to the cabinet"
2.lurch - move abruptly; "The ship suddenly lurched to the left"
move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right"
3.lurch - move slowly and unsteadily; "The truck lurched down the road"
go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast"
4.lurch - loiter about, with no apparent aim
footle, hang around, lallygag, loiter, lollygag, mess about, mill about, mill around, tarry, lounge, lurk, linger, loaf - be about; "The high school students like to loiter in the Central Square"; "Who is this man that is hanging around the department?"
5.lurch - defeat by a lurch
card game, cards - a game played with playing cards
defeat, get the better of, overcome - win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

lurch

verb
1. tilt, roll, pitch, list, rock, lean, heel As the car sped over a pothole, she lurched forward.
2. stagger, reel, stumble, weave, sway, totter a drunken yob lurching out of a bar, shouting obscenities
leave someone in the lurch leave, abandon, desert, strand, leave behind, forsake, jilt You wouldn't leave an old friend in the lurch, surely?
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

lurch

verb
1. To walk unsteadily:
2. To lean suddenly, unsteadily, and erratically from the vertical axis:
3. To move or cause to move with a sudden abrupt motion:
noun
A sudden motion, such as a pull:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
تَمايُل، تَرَنُّحيَتَمايَل، يَتَرَنَّح
naklonit seškubnouttrhnutí
rykslingre
megdőlmegdőlés
slangra, slagavelta, hliîarkast, slinkur
palikti bėdojepalikti nelaimėjepasvirimaspasvirtišokti į priekį
grīļošanāsgrīļotiessasvēršanāssasvērtieszvārošanās
yalpalamayalpalamak

lurch

1 [lɜːtʃ]
A. Nsacudida f, tumbo m (Naut) → bandazo m
to give a lurchdar una sacudida or un tumbo
B. VI [person] → tambalearse; [vehicle] (continually) → dar sacudidas, dar tumbos; (once) → dar una sacudida, dar un tumbo (Naut) → dar un bandazo
the bus lurched forwardel autobús avanzó dando tumbos/dando un tumbo
he lurched in/outentró/salió tambaleándose

lurch

2 [lɜːtʃ] N to leave sb in the lurchdejar a algn en la estacada
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lurch

[ˈlɜːrtʃ]
vi [person, vehicle] → tituber
n
(= movement) → écart m brusque, embardée f
to leave sb in the lurch → laisser qn se débrouiller tout(e) seul(e), laisser qn se dépêtrer tout(e) seul(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

lurch

1
n to leave somebody in the lurch (inf)jdn im Stich lassen, jdn hängen lassen (inf)

lurch

2
nRuck m; (of boat)Schlingern nt; with a drunken lurch he started off down the roadbetrunken taumelte er die Straße hinunter; to give a lurcheinen Ruck machen; (boat) → schlingern; my heart gave a lurchmein Herz stand still; the party’s lurch to the rightder Rechtsruck der Partei; a lurch into recessionein Schlittern ntin die Rezession
vi
einen Ruck machen
(= move with lurches)ruckeln, sich ruckartig bewegen; (boat)schlingern; (person)taumeln, torkeln; the train lurched to a standstillder Zug kam mit einem Ruck zum Stehen; he lurched to his feeter stand schwankend auf; to lurch abouthin und her schlingern/taumeln or torkeln; the bus lurched off down the bumpy trackder Bus ruckelte den holprigen Weg hinunter; to lurch in/out (person)herein-/hinaustaumeln; my heart lurchedmein Herz stand still; my stomach lurchedmir drehte sich der Magen um (inf); to lurch alongdahinruckeln/entlangtorkeln or -taumeln; the economy still manages to lurch alongdie Wirtschaft schlittert gerade so eben dahin; the government lurches from one crisis to the nextdie Regierung schlittert von einer Krise in die andere
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

lurch

1 [lɜːtʃ]
1. nsobbalzo; (of ship, plane) → rollata
2. vi (person) → barcollare, vacillare; (car) → sobbalzare; (ship, plane) → rollare
to lurch along (person) → procedere barcollando (car) → procedere a scatti

lurch

2 [lɜːtʃ] nscatto improvviso
to leave sb in the lurch (fam) → piantare in asso qn
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

lurch

(ləːtʃ) verb
to move suddenly or unevenly forward; to roll to one side.
noun
such a movement. The train gave a lurch and started off.
leave in the lurch
to leave (a person etc) in a difficult situation and without help.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
'You with your hundred arts are left in the lurch! Had you been able to climb like me, you would not have lost your life.'
An impulsive stride, with one lurch to right and left of the shoulders, brought him to the table, where he began affectionately handling the books.
And while the tinker fell asleep, Robin made haste away, And left the tinker in the lurch, For the great shot to pay.
One arm was at least twelve inches longer than its mate, which was itself long in proportion to the torso, while the legs, similarly mismated and terminating in huge, flat feet that protruded laterally, caused the thing to lurch fearfully from side to side as it lumbered toward the girl.
It unveiled for a sinister, fluttering moment a ragged mass of clouds hanging low, the lurch of the long outlines of the ship, the black figures of men caught on the bridge, heads forward, as if petrified in the act of butting.
I was just thinking how busy drink and the devil were at that very moment in the cabin of the HISPANIOLA, when I was surprised by a sudden lurch of the coracle.
Don Quixote, who was not used to dismount without having the stirrup held, fancying that Sancho had by this time come to hold it for him, threw himself off with a lurch and brought Rocinante's saddle after him, which was no doubt badly girthed, and saddle and he both came to the ground; not without discomfiture to him and abundant curses muttered between his teeth against the unlucky Sancho, who had his foot still in the shackles.
Presently a great hole was torn in the hull of one of the immense battle craft from the Zodangan camp; with a lurch she turned completely over, the little figures of her crew plunging, turning and twisting toward the ground a thousand feet below; then with sickening velocity she tore after them, almost completely burying herself in the soft loam of the ancient sea bottom.
Soon a venerable fossil, shawled to the chin and bandaged like a mummy, appeared at the door of the after deck-house, and the next lurch of the ship shot him into my arms.
Do you think I forget your always coming home to sell and pocket everything, and going off again leaving us in the lurch? I should be glad to see you whipped at the cart-tail.
No, there was nothing but land--slightly undulating, I knew, because often our wheels ground against the brake as we went down into a hollow and lurched up again on the other side.
With his gaff, the gaffman hooks on to a sheet of blubber, and strives to hold it from slipping, as the ship pitches and lurches about.