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lurch

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L24303 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. to move in an irregular way
L24304 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /lɜːt͡ʃ/ / /lɜɹt͡ʃ/

noun

Etymology: From Middle English *lurche (implied in derivative lurching), from Old French lourche (“deceived, embarrassed; also the name of a game”), from Proto-West Germanic *lort (“left; left-handed; crooked; bent; warped; underhanded; deceitful; limping”). Cognate to English lirt.

  1. A predicament or difficult situation.

    to leave someone in the lurch

  2. An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
  3. A double score in cribbage for the winner when their adversary has not yet pegged their 31st hole.

    August 14, 1784, Horace Walpole, letter to the Hon. H. S. Conway Lady Blandford has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English *lurche (implied in derivative lurching), from Old French lourche (“deceived, embarrassed; also the name of a game”), from Proto-West Germanic *lort (“left; left-handed; crooked; bent; warped; underhanded; deceitful; limping”). Cognate to English lirt.

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

    Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.