How to use lurch in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Lurch means a sudden or unsteady movement. Example: “The train remained stationary for a few moments, before lurching forward along the track.”

Examples of lurch by meaning

nounA sudden or unsteady movement.

the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard

verbTo make such a sudden, unsteady movement.

The incident made it think, apparently, that the neighborhood was dangerous, for it slowly lurched off through the wood, followed by its mate and its three enormous infants.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC
Number One lurched forward, his arms outstretched toward the horror stricken girl.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in The Monster Men, published 1929
He lurched against a table at which three soldiers were sitting and knocked over a glass of beer.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XLVII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC

nounA predicament or difficult situation.

to leave someone in the lurch

More sentences with lurch

The train remained stationary for a few moments, before lurching forward along the track.From the entry stationary
He left me in the lurch and I had to finish the whole project by myself.From the entry leave someone in the lurch
Good’s car began lurching toward him — the sort of police shooting investigators consider “awful but lawful.”2026 February 7, Ernesto Londoño, “Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.”, in The New York…. From the entry awful but lawful
The widespread use of subtitles felt, to me, like a lurch backward toward the silent-film era.2023 June 6, Devin Gordon, “Why Is Everyone Watching TV With the Subtitles On?”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 09 Jun 2023. From the entry doctrinaire
The car lurched wildly all over the narrow bitumen road, violently jerking around corners.2020, Leon Silver, The Miracle Typist. From the entry fershnickered
But don't worry, I am not gonna leave you guys in the lurch.2014 February 25, Nick Kroll, “Finger Magnets” (5:22 from the start), in Kroll Show, season 2, episode 7, spoken by Cassandra (Sarah Dampf). From the entry leave someone in the lurch
“He's doggly!” She shoved Nora's shoulder, causing a lurch and a grab for the railing.2012, Natalie Serber, Shout Her Lovely Name. From the entry doggly
His gaze fell on a bottle of pelinkovac and his stomach lurched.2008, Coral Petkovich, Ivan, from Adriatic to Pacific, →ISBN, page 75. From the entry pelinkovac
Then he stomped his sandaled foot on the gas, and the car lurched ahead.2007 January 28, Andrea Elliott, “A Cleric’s Journey Leads to a Suburban Frontier”, in New York Times. From the entry sandaled
Us drones all swing and lurch in droozy unison as the trains change speed.2001, David Mitchell, chapter 2, in number9dream, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN. From the entry droozy
Ambrose laughed as he lurched backwards and then clomped with his gold-tipped walking stick to the bed.2000, Robin Maxwell, chapter 14, in The Queen's Bastard: A Novel, Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 100. From the entry clomp
Racers run on their skates, lurching toward the first turn with a furious duck walk.1998, Kevin Hillstrom et al., The Handy Sports Answer Book, page 410. From the entry duck walk
Jesus wept not only because these were his people who were lurching so unavertibly toward the abyss.1966', Helmut Thielicke, Life Can Begin Again: Sermons on the Sermon on the Mount (page 5). From the entry unavertibly
Once some bandy-legged, lurching creature, an ant-eater or a bear, scuttled clumsily amid the shadows.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC. From the entry bandy-legged
"We are going to run them machines an' don't you forgit it," mumbled Hellig, and lurched forward.1909, Edward Stratemeyer, The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle. From the entry forgit
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” he said.¶A loud “pop” suddenly rang out.¶Kirk lurched back and to the left.2025 September 12, Eric Levenson, “Charlie Kirk’s final hours: How a stage for debate became a scene of tragedy”, in CNN, archived from…. From the entry count
Those maxims lurch through my head like rivers of lava.2024 May 6, Lt Flops, “Pursuing Ghosts, Part II”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2024. From the entry maxim
Then she lurched forward at terrific speed.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN. From the entry she
A daddy-long-legs lurched against the white-washed walls while Surefire christened the lime-swilled fresh bucket with a strong stream of urine.2012, Glory Keveme, Broken Wings, page 51. From the entry christen
When I lurch back toward where I can make out what CNN is saying, CNN has broken for commercial.2011 May 10, Roy Blount Jr., Alphabetter Juice: or, The Joy of Text, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, →OL, page 149. From the entry shazbot
The whole front came away, and Iofur lurched sideways to look at the damage, leaving lorek to scramble upright again.2007, Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials, Bluefire, →ISBN, page 259. From the entry sark
Nerve terminals buried deep in the tissue of the heart secrete their noradrenalin, and the heart lurches into accelerated pumping.1997, Ian McEwan, Enduring Love, Vintage (1998), page 51. From the entry noradrenalin
When they drove along under the "foreshoot" the horse lurched sideways and the front wheel caught behind a fence post.1969, The Casselman Chronicle - Volumes 9-17, page 20. From the entry foreshoot
Gluttonous, hoarding jay; he should have hedge-hopped and lurched from tree to tree in his usual furtive manner.1967, J[ohn] A[lec] Baker, “[The Peregrine] The Hunting Life”, in John Fanshawe, editor, The Peregrine, The Hill of Summer & Diaries: The…. From the entry furtive
They assume that our existence is nothing more than an endless lurching in the direction of the things you want, and never actually getting them.2025 December 9, Adam Mastroianni, “The drug that taught me how much I should suffer; or: grindset and bedrot”, in Experimental History…. From the entry active ingredient
But it has also rallied by about 10% since the downwards lurch when FTX filed for bankruptcy in mid-November, which is extraordinary.2022 December 14, Nils Pratley, “Bitcoin has rallied. What are crypto’s true believers still smoking?”, in The Guardian. From the entry rally
Soon, the van lurched into a high gear and started gaining on Zoe, who was running as fast as her little legs would carry her.2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN. From the entry gain on
Camels walk with a lurching gait, onomatopoetically called jonjoo in Mongolian (“jon-joo jon-joo jon-joo”), which English might render, less onomatopoetically, as “clump, clump, clump.”2010, Theodore Levin, Where Rivers and Mountains Sing. From the entry onomotopoetically
It was a part of his general mischief—he lurched about all day, asked leading questions, rubbed up old scandals and scratched beadily for new ones.2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 5, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN. From the entry beadily
Mike Mulvaney Jr. with the caramel-colored hair—very pregnant—again—and her little girl Chrissy, my firstborn niece, for whom my heart always gave a lurch.1996, Joyce Carol Oates, We Were the Mulvaneys, Harper Perennial, published 2007, →ISBN, pages 389, 440. From the entry Vicky
That was the way my mind lurched and stumbled, among the sharp rs and ts, sliding over the ovoid vowels as if on pebbles.1985, Margaret Atwood, “Soul Scrolls”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 164. From the entry ovoid
Lurching bolt upright, the room spinning in all its lilac horrificness, I remembered Tioman, and the flight that was booked – the daily flight, the only flight.2016, Rosie Blake, chapter 15, in How to Find Your (First) Husband, London: Corvus, →ISBN, page 129. From the entry horrificness
It was at this point the plane gave its lurch and slid tailwise down into the water until its rear fuselage struck the sandy sea bed.2015, Chris Snell, The Shout. From the entry tailwise
The boat lurches through choppy waves with resonating booms, tourists chatter with excitement, and the woman throwing popcorns squeals whenever our seagull guards reappear, ready for the next assault.2012, Edmond Manning, chapter 3, in King Perry, Miami, Fla.: Dreamspinner Press, →ISBN, page 35. From the entry popcorn
The band opens the shoestring yet adventurous East River Music Project series with S-S-S-Spectres, whose dissonant honkings and lurching beats evoke No Wave heroes like James Chance.2007 June 22, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times. From the entry honkings

Meaning of lurch

noun A sudden or unsteady movement.
verb To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.
verb To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.

Full definition of lurch

Questions about lurch in a sentence

How do you use lurch in a sentence?: Lurch is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The train remained stationary for a few moments, before lurching forward along the track.”
What is a short sentence with lurch?: “to leave someone in the lurch”
What does lurch mean?: Lurch means a sudden or unsteady movement.

Adapted from Wiktionary: lurch (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use lurch in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/lurch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.