lunge

¹

[ luhnj ]

noun

1. a sudden forward thrust, as with a sword or knife; stab.
2. any sudden forward movement; plunge.

   Synonyms: lurch, charge, rush

verb (used without object)

, lunged, lung·ing.

1. to make a lunge or thrust; move with a lunge.

verb (used with object)

, lunged, lung·ing.

1. to thrust (something) forward; cause to move with a lunge:

   lunging his finger accusingly.

lunge

²

[ luhnj ]

noun

, lunged, lung·ing.

1. longe.

lunge

¹

/ lʌndʒ /

noun

1. a sudden forward motion
2. fencing a thrust made by advancing the front foot and straightening the back leg, extending the sword arm forwards

verb

1. to move or cause to move with a lunge
2. intr fencing to make a lunge

lunge

²

/ lʌndʒ /

noun

1. a rope used in training or exercising a horse

verb

1. tr to exercise or train (a horse) on a lunge

Derived Forms

• ˈlunger, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunge¹

1725–35; earlier longe for French allonge (noun; construed as a longe ), allonger (v.) to lengthen, extend, deliver (blows) < Vulgar Latin *allongāre, for Late Latin ēlongāre to elongate

Origin of lunge²

Variant of longe < French; longe, lune ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunge¹

C18: shortened form of obsolete C17 allonge, from French allonger to stretch out (one's arm), from Late Latin ēlongāre to lengthen. Compare elongate

Origin of lunge²

C17: from Old French longe, shortened from allonge, ultimately from Latin longus long ¹; related to lunge ¹

Example Sentences

There’s a power component to every movement we make, whether that’s a ski turn, a quick jump over a felled tree, or a lunge for a distant climbing hold.

From Outside Online

To increase the intensity, he suggests performing lunges or step-ups with weights or a backpack.

From Washington Post

Trying to grab objects on the ground required an awkward lunge.

From MIT Technology Review

Even in the pre-recorded classes, I didn’t want to let him down by not pedaling at the right speed or phoning it in on my alternating lunges.

From Popular-Science

Other solid choices are bodyweight squats and lunges, single-leg deadlifts, pushups, forearm planks, and hollow holds.

From Popular-Science

I imagine he made an ungainly lunge at her, which she again rejected and which left her seriously upset.

From The Daily Beast

Dawn Hochsprung was a beloved principal who lost her life trying to lunge at the gunman.

From The Daily Beast

Think like a fencer: parry on Medicare; lunge at the stimulus.

From The Daily Beast

In effect, what I did was lunge and force the issue, thereby ruining the mood.

From The Daily Beast

From the movement behind him Marius guessed almost by instinct that Garnache had drawn back for a lunge.

From Project Gutenberg

Althotas eyed the speaker like a fencer watching his antagonist make a lunge which lays him open to defeat.

From Project Gutenberg

But this only exasperated the old man the more, and he made a lunge at the confidence man's throat.

From Project Gutenberg

It whipped around and made a lunge at Songbird's foot, but the youth was too nimble and leaped on the bed.

From Project Gutenberg

As Scotty yelled, Colin vaguely—for everything seemed reeling about him—saw Hank lunge with the long steel lance.

From Project Gutenberg