perched

[ purcht ]

adjective

1. (of a bird) resting on a perch, such as a branch, telephone wire, or fence, or a rod specially designed for the purpose:

   While hiking I caught sight of a perched owl near the trail.

2. settled or resting in a relatively high position, like a bird on a perch:

   The tour will stop for lunch in a perched village offering a splendid view of the entire French Riviera coastline.

3. Geology. (of a boulder or block) left on the top of a hill, ridge, etc., by ice that melted after carrying it there:

   As you continue hiking southeast, look out for the perched boulder overlooking a pond.

4. Geology.
   1. (of a lake) having a surface level at an unusually high elevation, well above that of aquifers and other bodies of water in the area, because it has formed on a dense, hardened layer of sand mixed with organic matter that traps water on top of it:

      Half of all the world’s known perched lakes are found on Australia’s Fraser Island.

   2. (of an aquifer) occurring above the regional water table, having been formed by an accumulation of groundwater that cannot permeate the underlying layer of clay or other dense soil:

      Perched aquifers are sometimes good water sources, but they tend to be relatively small and easily depleted with overpumping.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of perch ¹.

Other Words From

• un·perched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of perched¹

First recorded in 1815–25; perch ¹( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; perch ¹( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Crowds of birdwatchers flocked to a quiet cul-de-sac after a rare sighting of a species perched on a garden washing line.

From BBC

Workers at a construction site perched on a wooden beam and ate lunches they’d retrieved from a food truck.

From Los Angeles Times

The neighbourhood of Brahmapuri in India’s Jodhpur city stands at the foot of a famous fort that’s perched atop a hill.

From BBC

It’s on the Mexican flag, a golden eagle grasping a snake perched atop a nopal on an island — a reference to the Aztec legend of searching for a new home until encountering that exact scene.

From Los Angeles Times

It has one narrow runway perched high on a mesa with steep cliffs at either end tumbling 1,600 feet to the deep blue Pacific Ocean.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alight
• squat
• touch down