lurched; lurching; lurches
1
: to move with a lurch
suddenly lurched forward
2
: to roll or tip abruptly : pitch
1
: an abrupt jerking, swaying, or tipping movement
the car moved forward with a lurch
also
: stagger sense 2
2
: a sudden roll of a ship to one side
: a decisive defeat in which an opponent wins a game by more than double the defeated player's score especially in cribbage
lurched; lurching; lurches
Synonyms
Examples of lurch in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jesse Ashlock, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Apr. 2024
Who hasn’t attributed the occasional pang or jab to sleeping in a weird position, slouching at a desk for eight hours, or lurching to grab something off the floor in a slightly wonky way?
—Sarah Klein, SELF, 5 Mar. 2024
Television The women who provided abortions before Roe give a ‘grim’ glimpse of life after it
June 8, 2022
Season 6 is set in North Carolina, a once purple Southern state that has lurched rightward the last few election cycles.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
Rocket has undertaken multiple rounds of employee buyouts since the mortgage industry lurched from boomtimes to a slump once mortgage rates started climbing in early 2022 from historic lows.
—Detroit Free Press, 28 Feb. 2024
Its war plan lacked an ending—and so, unsurprisingly, the war never really ended, with the conflict lurching from one battle to another for years to come.
—Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
By then, Surf City had lurched closer to Van Der Mark’s red worldview.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
The report stated that the camera then captured the car lurching toward a wooden barrier, reversing, turning to the left without stopping, and over the top of the limestone block wall.
—Sarah Dewberry, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
Polls show Europe lurching toward the right ahead of elections for the 27-member bloc’s parliament this June.
—Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024
Elsewhere, subsidized programs often disappear when the money runs out, leaving the people most in need of transportation in the lurch and without core services.
—Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024
Freeway traffic shuffles, lurches, or, as in La La Land, gives up on the idea of going anywhere at all.
—Curbed, 29 Nov. 2023
As the wildest Mountain West race in history lurches into its final month, with, incredibly, seven teams at either three or four conference losses, the separation may come from who handles the madness the best.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2024
The back-and-forth has left Ohio families of transgender children in a lurch.
—Anumita Kaur, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024
Read more When Congress flirts with a government shutdown, student loan borrowers are left in the lurch.
—USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2024
The tumultuous developments this year left Russia in a lurch and scrambling at times for allies, munitions and soldiers to keep the war effort going; meanwhile, Ukraine failed to make the gains that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had promised, forcing a switch to more unsavory tactics.
—Peter Aitken, Fox News, 20 Dec. 2023
For-profit colleges have a history of controversy: In 2018, for example, the for-profit chain Education Corporation of America abruptly shut down nearly all of its schools after losing its accreditation, leaving some 20,000 students in the lurch.
—The New York Times, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024
Verb
Several guides lurch forward to demonstrate on a dummy.
—Jesse Ashlock, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Apr. 2024
Who hasn’t attributed the occasional pang or jab to sleeping in a weird position, slouching at a desk for eight hours, or lurching to grab something off the floor in a slightly wonky way?
—Sarah Klein, SELF, 5 Mar. 2024
Television The women who provided abortions before Roe give a ‘grim’ glimpse of life after it
June 8, 2022
Season 6 is set in North Carolina, a once purple Southern state that has lurched rightward the last few election cycles.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
Rocket has undertaken multiple rounds of employee buyouts since the mortgage industry lurched from boomtimes to a slump once mortgage rates started climbing in early 2022 from historic lows.
—Detroit Free Press, 28 Feb. 2024
Its war plan lacked an ending—and so, unsurprisingly, the war never really ended, with the conflict lurching from one battle to another for years to come.
—Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
By then, Surf City had lurched closer to Van Der Mark’s red worldview.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
The report stated that the camera then captured the car lurching toward a wooden barrier, reversing, turning to the left without stopping, and over the top of the limestone block wall.
—Sarah Dewberry, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
Polls show Europe lurching toward the right ahead of elections for the 27-member bloc’s parliament this June.
—Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
Noun
Other chains, such as Walmart and Target, have attempted to open small stores in cities such as Chicago and Baltimore and wound up closing, leaving communities in a lurch.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024
Elsewhere, subsidized programs often disappear when the money runs out, leaving the people most in need of transportation in the lurch and without core services.
—Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024
Freeway traffic shuffles, lurches, or, as in La La Land, gives up on the idea of going anywhere at all.
—Curbed, 29 Nov. 2023
As the wildest Mountain West race in history lurches into its final month, with, incredibly, seven teams at either three or four conference losses, the separation may come from who handles the madness the best.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2024
The back-and-forth has left Ohio families of transgender children in a lurch.
—Anumita Kaur, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024
Read more When Congress flirts with a government shutdown, student loan borrowers are left in the lurch.
—USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2024
The tumultuous developments this year left Russia in a lurch and scrambling at times for allies, munitions and soldiers to keep the war effort going; meanwhile, Ukraine failed to make the gains that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had promised, forcing a switch to more unsavory tactics.
—Peter Aitken, Fox News, 20 Dec. 2023
For-profit colleges have a history of controversy: In 2018, for example, the for-profit chain Education Corporation of America abruptly shut down nearly all of its schools after losing its accreditation, leaving some 20,000 students in the lurch.
—The New York Times, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lurch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Lurch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lurch. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lurch
1 of 3 noun
: an overwhelming defeat in a game (as cribbage)
lurch
2 of 3 noun1
: a sudden roll of a ship to one side
2
: a sudden jerking, swaying, or tipping movement
the car gave a lurch
also
: a staggering gait
lurch
3 of 3 verb1
: to roll or tip suddenly
2
: to move with a lurch
suddenly lurched forward
also
: stagger entry 1 sense 1
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