Library / English Dictionary

LURCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An unsteady uneven gait

Synonyms:

lurch; stagger; stumble

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("lurch" is a kind of...):

gait (a person's manner of walking)

Derivation:

lurch (walk as if unable to control one's movements)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of moving forward suddenly

Synonyms:

lunge; lurch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("lurch" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Derivation:

lurch (move abruptly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance)

Example:

the pitching and tossing was quite exciting

Synonyms:

lurch; pitch; pitching

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("lurch" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Domain category:

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lurch"):

careen; rock; sway; tilt (pitching dangerously to one side)

Derivation:

lurch (move abruptly)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("lurch" is a kind of...):

defeat; licking (an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest)

Derivation:

lurch (defeat by a lurch)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Defeat by a lurch

Synonyms:

lurch; skunk

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "lurch" is one way to...):

defeat; get the better of; overcome (win a victory over)

Domain category:

card game; cards (a game played with playing cards)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

lurch (a decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move abruptly

Example:

The ship suddenly lurched to the left

Synonyms:

lurch; pitch; shift

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "lurch" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

lurch (the act of moving forward suddenly)

lurch (abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Walk as if unable to control one's movements

Example:

The drunken man staggered into the room

Synonyms:

careen; keel; lurch; reel; stagger; swag

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "lurch" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

lurch (an unsteady uneven gait)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move slowly and unsteadily

Example:

The truck lurched down the road

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "lurch" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Loiter about, with no apparent aim

Synonyms:

lurch; prowl

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "lurch" is one way to...):

footle; hang around; lallygag; linger; loaf; loiter; lollygag; lounge; lurk; mess about; mill about; mill around; tarry (be about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

The country roads seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At each end of the yard there did indeed hang the dark figure of a man, jolting and lurching with hideous jerkings of its limbs at every plunge and swoop of the galley.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I dashed from my chair, threw my arms round Holmes, and together we lurched through the door, and an instant afterwards had thrown ourselves down upon the grass plot and were lying side by side, conscious only of the glorious sunshine which was bursting its way through the hellish cloud of terror which had girt us in.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her readers were not particular about such trifles as grammar, punctuation, and probability, and Mr. Dashwood graciously permitted her to fill his columns at the lowest prices, not thinking it necessary to tell her that the real cause of his hospitality was the fact that one of his hacks, on being offered higher wages, had basely left him in the lurch.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Young man, you’ll know enough of who you ’ave to fight before you are through with it,” cried Berks, lurching heavily through the crowd.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He found time to admire the ease with which she sat down, then lurched toward a chair facing her, overwhelmed with consciousness of the awkward figure he was cutting.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Further, letting drop the volume during a lurch of the ship, a sheet of paper fell out.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion stairs into the cabin.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Once some bandy-legged, lurching creature, an ant-eater or a bear, scuttled clumsily amid the shadows.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The man watched him go, limping grotesquely and lurching forward with stammering gait up the slow slope toward the soft sky-line of the low-lying hill.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)