lurching

Verb (1)

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.
   • 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.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Strike the Jolly Roger”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

Verb (2)

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. (obsolete) To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.
   • Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Building”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

Verb (3)

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. (dialectal, intransitive) To evade by stooping; to lurk; lie in wait; go about in a sneaking way.
2. (dialectal, intransitive) To take by surprise; to unexpectedly detain.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To rob.
   • And in the brunt of seventeen battles since / He lurched all swords of the garland.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

Verb (4)

lurch (third-person singular simple present lurches, present participle lurching, simple past and past participle lurched)

1. (transitive) To defeat in the game of cribbage with a lurch (double score as explained under noun entry).

See all 12 meanings of lurch