Word of the Day

: August 25, 2016

notch

noun NAHTCH

What It Means

1 a : a V-shaped indentation

b : a slit made to serve as a record

c : a rounded indentation cut into the pages of a book on the edge opposite the spine

2 : a deep close pass : gap

3 : degree, step

notch in Context

The angle of the futon can be adjusted by inserting the pin into one of three notches.

"You're about to start a race or step onstage, and you want to knock it out of the park. … Revving up … is pretty easy: Do a few jumping jacks, or whatever gets your blood pumping. Need to take things down a notch (or 20)? Inhale deeply. Research shows that it can significantly calm you down." — Jeanine Detz, Self, July/August 2016

Did You Know?

Occasionally, you might hear a child ask for a "napple," as in "I would like a napple," mistaking the phrase "an apple" for "a napple." A similar error is believed to be behind notch, which may have resulted from a misdivision of "an otch." (Otch is a noun that is assumed to have existed in earlier English as a borrowing of Middle French oche, meaning "an incision made to keep a record.") Notch would not be alone in developing from such a mistake. The words newt and nickname were formed, respectively, from misdivisions of "an ewte" and "an ekename." Going in the other direction, umpire first appears in Middle English as oumpere, a mistaken rendering of "a noumpere."