"Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear." [1913 Webster]

Lurch, n. [OF. lourche name of a game; as adj., deceived, embarrassed.].

An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables. [1913 Webster]
A double score in cribbage for the winner when his adversary has been left in the lurch. [1913 Webster]
"Lady --- has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch." [1913 Webster]

"But though thou'rt of a different church,
I will not leave thee in the lurch." [1913 Webster]

Lurch, v. t.

To leave in the lurch; to cheat. [1913 Webster]
"Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant." [1913 Webster]
To steal; to rob. [1913 Webster]
"And in the brunt of seventeen battles since
He lurched all swords of the garland." [1913 Webster]

Lurch, n. [Cf. W. llerch, llerc, a frisk, a frisking backward or forward, a loitering, a lurking, a lurking, llercian, llerciaw, to be idle, to frisk; or perh. fr. E. lurch to lurk.].

A sudden roll of a ship to one side, as in heavy weather; hence, a swaying or staggering movement to one side, as that by a drunken man. [1913 Webster]

Lurch, v. i.

To roll or sway suddenly to one side, as a ship or a drunken man; to move forward while lurching. [1913 Webster]

Lurch, v. i. [A variant of lurk.].

To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lurk. L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]
To dodge; to shift; to play tricks. [1913 Webster]
"I . . . am fain to shuffle, to hedge, and to lurch." [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

Lurch, n. & v.
--n. a stagger, a sudden unsteady movement or leaning.
--v.intr. stagger, move suddenly and unsteadily.

Lurch, n.

Idiom

leave in the lurch desert (a friend etc.) in difficulties.

Etymology

orig. = a severe defeat in a game, f. F lourche (also the game itself, like backgammon)

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THESAURUS

Lurch

abandon, amble, barge, bend, bent, bias, blunder, bob, bobble, bowl along, bumble, bundle, capsize, careen, career, clump, coggle, come a cropper, crook, dangle, desert, disposition, drag, droop, drop, fall, fall down, fall flat, fall headlong, fall over, fall prostrate, falter, flounce, flounder, fluctuate, flutter, foot, footslog, forsake, gait, gallop, get a cropper, halt, heave, heel, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hobbyhorse, hop, inclination, jilt, jog, jolt, jump, labor, librate, limp, list, lock step, lug, lumber, lunge, make heavy weather, mince, mincing steps, nutate, oscillate, pace, paddle, peg, penchant, pendulate, piaffe, piaffer, pitch, pitch and plunge, pitch and toss, plod, plunge, pound, prance, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, rack, rear, reel, resonate, rock, roll, sashay, saunter, scend, scuff, scuffle, scuttle, seethe, shake, shamble, sheer, shuffle, sidle, single-foot, skew, skip, slink, slither, slog, slouch, slowness, slue, snap, snapper, sprawl, spread-eagle, stagger, stalk, stammer, stamp, step, stomp, straddle, straggle, stride, stroll, strolling gait, struggle, strut, stumble, stump, swag, swagger, sway, swerve, swing, swinging, take a fall, take a flop, take a header, take a pratfall, take a spill, tendency, thrash about, tilt, tilter, tittup, toddle, topple, topple down, topple over, toss, toss and tumble, toss and turn, totter, traipse, tread, trip, trot, trudge, tumble, turn, turn turtle, twist, twitch, vacillate, veer, vellicate, velocity, vibrate, volutation, waddle, wag, waggle, walk, wallop, wallow, wamble, warp, wave, waver, weave, welter, whirl, wiggle, wobble, yank, yaw

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ROGET THESAURUS

Lurch

Failure

N failure, nonsuccess, nonfulfillment, dead failure, successlessness, abortion, miscarriage, brutum fulmen, labor in vain, no go, inefficacy, inefficaciousness, vain attempt, ineffectual attempt, abortive attempt, abortive efforts, flash in the pan, lame and impotent conclusion, frustration, slip 'twixt cup and lip, blunder, fault, omission, miss, oversight, slip, trip, stumble, claudication, footfall, false step, wrong step, faux pas, titubation, b_evue, faute, lurch, botchery, scrape, mess, fiasco, breakdown, flunk, mishap, split, collapse, smash, blow, explosion, repulse, rebuff, defeat, rout, overthrow, discomfiture, beating, drubbing, quietus, nonsuit, subjugation, checkmate, stalemate, fool's mate, fall, downfall, ruin, perdition, wreck, deathblow, bankruptcy, losing game, affaire flamb_ee, victim, bankrupt, flunker, flunky, unsuccessful, successless, failing, tripping, at fault, unfortunate, abortive, addle, stillborn, fruitless, bootless, ineffectual, ineffective, inconsequential, trifling, nugatory, inefficient, insufficient, unavailing, of no effect, aground, grounded, swamped, stranded, cast away, wrecked, foundered, capsized, shipwrecked, nonsuited, foiled, defeated, struck down, borne down, broken down, downtrodden, overborne, overwhelmed, all up with, ploughed, plowed, plucked, lost, undone, ruined, broken, bankrupt, played out, done up, done for, dead beat, ruined root and branch, flambe, knocked on the head, destroyed, frustrated, crossed, unhinged, disconcerted dashed, thrown off one's balance, thrown on one's back, thrown on one's beam ends, unhorsed, in a sorry plight, hard hit, stultified, befooled, dished, hoist on one's own petard, victimized, sacrificed, wide of the mark, out of one's reckoning, left in the lurch, thrown away, unattained, uncompleted, unsuccessfully, to little or no purpose, in vain, re infecta, the bubble has burst, the jig is up, the game is up, all is lost, the devil to pay, parturiunt montes, dies infaustus, tout est perdu hors l'honneur.

Obliquity

N obliquity, inclination, slope, slant, crookedness, slopeness, leaning, bevel, tilt, bias, list, twist, swag, cant, lurch, distortion, bend, tower of Pisa, acclivity, rise, ascent, gradient, khudd, rising ground, hill, bank, declivity, downhill, dip, fall, devexity, gentle slope, rapid slope, easy ascent, easy descent, shelving beach, talus, monagne Russe, facilis descensus averni.

Descent

N descent, descension, declension, declination, fall, falling, slump, drop, plunge, plummet, cadence, subsidence, collapse, lapse, downfall, tumble, slip, tilt, trip, lurch, cropper, culbute, titubation, stumble, fate of Icarus, avalanche, debacle, landslip, landslide, declivity, dip, hill, rappel, descending, descendent, decurrent, decursive, labent, deciduous, nodding to its fall, downhill, downwards, the bottom fell out.

VB descend, go down, drop down, come down, fall, gravitate, drop, slip, slide, rappel, settle, plunge, plummet, crash, decline, set, sink, droop, come down a peg, slump, dismount, alight, light, get down, swoop, stoop, fall prostrate, precipitate oneself, let fall, tumble, trip, stumble, titubate, lurch, pitch, swag, topple, topple over, tumble over, topple down, tumble down, tilt, sprawl, plump down, come down a cropper.

Oscillation

N oscillation, vibration, libration, motion of a pendulum, nutation, undulation, pulsation, pulse, alternation, coming and going, ebb and flow, flux and reflux, ups and down, fluctuation, vacillation, wave, vibratiuncle, swing, beat, shake, wag, seesaw, dance, lurch, dodge, logan, loggan, rocking-stone, vibroscope, oscillating, oscillatory, undulatory, pulsatory, libratory, rectilinear, vibratory, vibratile, pendulous, to and fro, up and down, backwards and forwards, hither and yon, seesaw, zigzag, wibble-wabble, in and out, from side to side, like buckets in a well.

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