lurch

1 of 5

verb (1)

ˈlərch 

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

also : stagger sense 2

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.

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• careen
• pitch
• rock
• roll
• seesaw
• sway
• toss
• wobble
• wabble

Examples of lurch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Though clear progress on inflation has been achieved, gas prices have lurched higher again, reaching a national average of $3.88 a gallon as of Tuesday. —Christopher Rugaber The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2023

The shift toward Iowa, which hosts the nation’s opening presidential caucuses on Jan. 15 shortly before New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, began in recent years as the national GOP lurched rightward. —Steve Peoples, Chicago Tribune, 16 Sep. 2023

At the very least, his works will resonate with an American audience lurching uncomfortably out of a pandemic that, for a time anyway, left a lot of people more isolated than usual. —M.h. Miller, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023

Hitchcock’s trick is that the camera has physically moved back from its subject while zooming in—conveying a lurching disorientation. —Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023

Summer in China so far has been a season of extremes, with the country lurching between stifling, unrelenting heat and heavy, monsoonal rainfall. —Dawn Liu, NBC News, 8 Aug. 2023

But out of this geopolitical muddle, a new world older is lurching into motion. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2023

Over the past 12 months, Iran has lurched from crisis to crisis. —Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2023

Roemer unleashes his lurching panoply of dramatic incidents in a rapid succession of scenes with no breathing room between them. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2023

Noun

When bad times hit or foreign lenders get spooked, governments are left in the lurch. —Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023

The for-your-consideration campaigns and journalistic access-grubbing lurch forward awkwardly even as ceremonies get pushed back. —Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2023

In February, as the company cut costs and laid off workers amid economic head winds, Amazon pressed pause on its grocery expansion, halting projects in more than a dozen locations and leaving prospective landlords and locals in the lurch. —Caroline O'Donovan, Washington Post, 1 Aug. 2023

The closure was not by choice and left owners such as Dolores Guzman, who purchased hot dog cart equipment and invested more than $10,000 six months before the shutdown, in the lurch. —Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 1 Aug. 2023

There is some evidence that the more Israel lurches to the right, the larger this group becomes, especially among young Jewish Americans. REALITY CHECK So far, the Biden administration has sought to sustain the status quo while urging Israel to avoid major provocations. —Michael Barnett, Foreign Affairs, 14 Apr. 2023

In both films, enterprising young men left in the lurch by a national financial crisis must resort to black-market fishing to, well, stay afloat. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 6 July 2023

Her subject matter — romantic disappointment, being left in the lurch — is the same, but the stakes are much greater now. —Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 4 July 2023

Truck drivers are left in the lurch after flocking to the industry during Covid. —Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 3 July 2023

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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

Phrases Containing lurch

• leave (someone) in the lurch
• in the lurch

• leave (someone) in the lurch
• in the lurch

Kids Definition

lurch

1 of 3 noun

ˈlərch 

: 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

also : stagger entry 1 sense 1