lurch
/lɜɹt͡ʃ/noun, verb
lurch is spelled L-U-R-C-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lurch means “A sudden or unsteady movement” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lurch is lurches.
How many letters and syllables are in lurch?
| Letters | 5: L-U-R-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lurch?
Lurch appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lurch?
- UK /lɜːt͡ʃ/
- US /lɜɹt͡ʃ/
Lurch has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lurch.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lurch?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lurch from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹtʃ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: churl.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lurch
- lurches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lurching participle, present
- lurched participle, past
- lorch
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lurch mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sudden or unsteady movement.
the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard
- 2
A lift or heave.
- 3
A predicament or difficult situation.
to leave someone in the lurch
- 4
An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
- 5
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
- 1
To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.
- 2
To evade by stooping; to lurk; lie in wait; go about in a sneaking way.
- 3
To take by surprise; to unexpectedly detain.
- 4
obsoleteTo rob.
- 5
To defeat in the game of cribbage with a lurch (double score as explained under noun entry).
- 6
obsoleteTo leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.
- 7
obsoleteTo swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lurch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | embardée , chanceler, faire une embardée, tituber, vaciller |
| German | Schlingern, Ruck , taumeln, schlingern, torkeln, ruckeln |
| Spanish | bandazo , tambalearse, sacudirse (hacia) |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lurch come from?
Originally a nautical term, found in lee-larches (“the sudden and violent rolls of a ship to the leeward in high seas”), of unknown origin. Possibly the same as lurch (“to move stealthily, evade by stooping”) (see below), or from French lâcher (“to let go”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).