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
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 See More

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 27 Sep. 2023.

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
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!