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
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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
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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
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Hayley then flashes a strip of sonogram photos at the camera as the couple smiles and sways in the sunlight.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2025
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As such, wardrobe styling and other modes of non-verbal communication — from raising an eyebrow or throwing a cutting look to the way one lights a cigarette or sways to a disco beat — were particularly key to creating character.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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The agency staggers payments across the month to manage the large volume of recipients.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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In search of scientific ways to make sense of a world in constant flux, people called on catastrophe theory to describe everything from bridge collapses to prison riots to regime changes.—
Gregory Barber,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
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Every episode of Destruction Decoded delves deep into a type of historical disaster, such as train crashes, bridge collapses, or perilous expeditions.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Noah Cameron shakes off rocky 1st inning Sunday didn’t start well for Royals rookie starter Noah Cameron.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
14 Sep. 2025
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One team member gets to see an object in a box, then the other team members have to guess what that person saw, using only facial expressions (no nods or head shakes) as clues.—
Matthew Jackson,
Vulture,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Styled with chic flip flops, Howie's woman demonstrates that kicking back on a getaway can also be a style statement.—
Roxanne Robinson,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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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
Noun
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However, the Tigers managed two top-10 upsets.—
Brady Shanahan,
Kansas City Star,
9 Sep. 2025
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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 18 Sep. 2025.
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