lurch

¹ American  

[lurch] / lɜrtʃ /

noun

1. an act or instance of swaying abruptly.

2. an awkward, swaying or staggering motion or gait.

3. a sudden tip or roll to one side, as of a ship or a staggering person.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make a lurch; move with lurches; stagger.

   The wounded man lurched across the room.

   Synonyms:

   totter, reel, lunge

2. (of a ship) to roll or pitch suddenly.

lurch ² American  

[lurch] / lɜrtʃ /

noun

1. a situation at the close of various games in which the loser scores nothing or is far behind the opponent.

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idioms

1. leave in the lurch, to leave in an uncomfortable or desperate situation; desert in time of trouble.

   Our best salesperson left us in the lurch at the peak of the busy season.

lurch ³ American  

[lurch] / lɜrtʃ /

verb (used without object)

1. British Dialect. to lurk near a place; prowl.

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verb (used with object)

1. Archaic. to do out of; defraud; cheat.

2. Obsolete. to acquire through underhanded means; steal; filch.

noun

1. Archaic. the act of lurking or state of watchfulness.

lurch ¹ British  

/ lɜːtʃ /

verb

1. to lean or pitch suddenly to one side

2. to stagger or sway

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noun

1. the act or an instance of lurching

lurch ² British  

/ lɜːtʃ /

noun

1. to desert someone in trouble

2. cribbage the state of a losing player with less than 30 points at the end of a game (esp in the phrase in the lurch )

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lurch ³ British  

/ lɜːtʃ /

verb

1. archaic (intr) to prowl or steal about suspiciously

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lurch More Idioms  

1. see leave in the lurch.

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Other Word Forms

• lurching adjective
• lurchingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of lurch¹

First recorded in 1800–10; origin uncertain

Origin of lurch²

First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French lourche a game, noun use of lourche (adjective) “defeated,” from a Germanic language; compare Middle High German lurz “left (hand); wrong,” lürzen “to deceive,” Old English belyrtan “to deceive”

Origin of lurch³

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English lorchen “to skulk,” apparently variant of lurken lurk

Example Sentences

North has since learned she was not the only person Freddie Priestley had left in the lurch at the 11th hour after taking the deposit on a room in his three-bedroom flat.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

As imports are disrupted, India has moved to ensure households and essential sectors remain adequately supplied, leaving restaurants, manufacturers and power plants in the lurch.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

Analysts said the lurch in Japanese bonds was amplified by weak demand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026

Florida; Nevada; Texas; and Utah in a lurch with little notice, no severance and scrambling to fulfill a surge of orders from customers clamoring to get their last tastes.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2026

My heart gave a startled lurch, and the bite of toast I’d stolen stuck in my throat.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• bumble
• careen
• falter
• flounder
• heave
• jerk
• lean
• reel
• seesaw
• stagger
• stumble
• sway
• teeter
• tilt
• totter
• wallow
• wobble