Word.ws English Dictionary

notch

UK/nɒtʃ/US/nɑtʃ/

notch noun: a V-shaped cut.

notch: a V-shaped cut
Image: Rafael Fernandez Modified version: Carolyn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

notch (plural notches)

  1. A V-shaped cut.
    1. Such a cut, used for keeping a record.
      • The notches in that tribe's warrior axe handles stand for killed enemies.
  2. An indentation.
  3. A mountain pass; a defile.
  4. (slang) The female primary sex organ, vulva.
    • If this Coin pass, no Man that lives,
      Shall dun for Past Debauches;
      Zounds, Landlords, send but in your Wifes,
      We’ll scow’r off all their Notches.c. 1720, “The Turnep Ground [A broadside song with music]”, in John S. Farmer, editor, Merry Songs and Ballads prior to the year A. D. 1800 (National Ballad and Song), volume 1, published 1897, page...
    • He forced his prick between her reluctant lips, all slimy and soiled as it was from the previous enculade, then producing an enormous dildoe, nearly twelve inches long, and big in proportion, he put a little cold cream on it, and presented the head to her notch, trying to force it in.
      “Ah! No! no!...1880, “Lady Pokingham, or They All Do It”, in The Pearl, volume 12
  5. (US, slang) A woman.
    • These ladies from the west got game
      Who got the best, VA, DC, Georgia, New York, Texas, Louisiana, or Florida
      The Middwest got some super notches
      You eva seen Cali's finest, man, who could top us2003, “California Girls”, in Married to the Game, performed by Too $hort
  6. A discontinuous change in a taxation schedule.
  7. (informal) A level or degree.
    • This car is a notch better than the other.
    • Can you speak a notch louder, please?
  8. A portion of a mobile phone that overlaps the edge of the screen, used to house a camera, sensors etc. while maximizing screen space.

Verb

notch (third-person singular simple present notches, present participle notching, simple past and past participle notched)

  1. (transitive) To cut a notch in (something).
    Synonyms:
    indent
  2. (transitive) To record (a score or similar) by making notches on something.
    • The tribe's hunters notch their kills by notches on each's axe's handle.
  3. (transitive) To join by means of notches.
  4. (informal, transitive) To achieve (something); to add to one's score or record of successes.
    • The team notched a pair of shutout wins on Sunday.
    • Jenkins booted a pair of field goals, Hopkins and George Nwokoji each notched a touchdown.2010 October 21, “Panthers' football team”, in Portland Leader
    Synonyms:
    notch up
  5. (transitive) Synonym of nock (“to fit (an arrow) to a bow”).
    • Notching an arrow on the string of his tried and unerring bow, he raised his sinewy arms […]1885, John Niles Hubbard, An Account of Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, Or Red Jacket, and His People, 1750-1830, page 31
    • As Uncle Bunse threw his armful of stuff into the canoe, half a dozen other Indians crept forward, notching their arrows to shoot.1913, Massachusetts Reformatory (Concord, Mass.), Our Paper, page 530
    Synonyms:
    nock
  6. (transitive) To change in small graduations.
    • to notch back a salary

notch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

notch in Hindi

नोच

notch in Tamil

சிறுவெட்டு, பொளி, வெட்டுமுகம், காடி, பிளப்பு, வெட்டுப்பள்ளம்

notch in Urdu

دانتا, دندانہ, کٹکھنا, کٹاؤ, شگاف, دندانے بنانا

notch in Bengali

খাঁজ, গিরিসংকট, গিরিপথ, খাঁজ কাটা
More languagesFewer languages
notch in Telugu
నాచ్, నోచ్
notch in Malayalam
കീറ്, ചവിട്ടുപടി, വെട്ട്, വെട്ട് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ കീറ് ഉണ്ടാക്കുക
notch in Kannada
ಕಕ್ಕು, ಕಚ್ಚು, ಉಗಿಲು, ಕರ‍್ಕು
notch in Gujarati
નોચ
notch in Odia
ନୋଚ୍, ନୋଚ

Examples of notch in a sentence

  • I notched a rod and used it to measure the length of rope to cut.
  • The award may be given to anybody who consistently writes top notch content.
  • John has just notched up another "salesman of the month" prize.

All 40 example sentences with notch

Synonyms of notch

Forms of notch

Noun
pluralnotches
Verb
third-person singular presentnotches
present participlenotching
past participlenotched
pastnotched

Past tense of notch: notched

Plural of notch: notches

Origin of notch

Recorded since 1577, probably a rebracketing of an otch, from Middle French oche (“notch”), itself from the Old French verb ochier (“to notch”), of uncertain origin, but possibly related to French hocher and English nick (“small cut, notch”).

Words formed from notch

Phrases with notch

17 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with notch

Questions about notch

What does notch mean?
Notch means a V-shaped cut.
What is notch in Hindi?
Notch in Hindi is नोच. See Notch meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is notch?
Notch can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce notch?
Notch is pronounced /nɒtʃ/ (UK).
What is the plural of notch?
The plural of notch is notches.

Words near notch in the dictionary

  1. notauli
  2. notaulices
  3. notaulix
  4. notaulus
  5. NOTC
  6. notch
  7. notch babies
  8. notch baby
  9. notch count
  10. notch counts
  11. notch filter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: notch (page history and authors); notch (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); notch (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); notch (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); notch (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); notch (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); notch (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); notch (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); notch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); notch (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-notch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “notch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/notch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.