lurch

Meaning

Noun

A sudden or unsteady movement.

Verb

To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.

Verb

To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.

Verb

1. To evade by stooping; to lurk; lie in wait; go about in a sneaking way.
2. To take by surprise; to unexpectedly detain.
3. (obsolete) To rob.

Verb

1. (obsolete) To leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.
2. To defeat in the game of cribbage with a lurch (double score as explained under noun entry).

Synonyms

stagger

reel

totter

sway

careen

pitch

teeter

swag

stumble

lunge

keel

roll

falter

be disposed to

list

incline toward

decline

rush

trend toward

be prone to

shift

skunk

🦨

sink

slant

flounder

tilt

tip

pitching

lean

leaning

wane

predicament

go down

prowl

wobble

whacking

whipping

heel over

rout out

swoop down

whap

trace a zigzag course

flip tail

heed over

seel

beating

lounge around

boggle

charge

dash

💨

dawdle

destabilize

dodder

dressing down

drubbing

fly

✈️

hang out

heel

hurtle

incline

licking

loiter

lounge about

misery

oscillate

penchant

plight

plunge

propensity

quandary

rout

shamble

shillyshally

spanking

teetertotter

tergiversate

thrashing

trash

vacillate

waddle

waver

Pronounced as (IPA)

/lɝt͡ʃ/

Etymology

Originally a nautical term, found in lee-larches (“the sudden and violent rolls of a ship to the leeward in high seas”), of unknown origin. Possibly the same as lurch (“to move stealthily, evade by stooping”) (see below), or from French lâcher (“to let go”).