Meaning & use
lurch
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To move forward or sideways with a sudden, uneven jolt, as if losing balance.
Grammar: No object; often followed by a direction: lurch forward.
Patterns
- lurch forward
- lurch to something
- lurch from something to something
The bus lurched forward and everyone grabbed a handrail.
He lurched across the room, clearly dizzy from the heat.
The boat lurched sideways as a wave hit it.
nouncountable
A sudden, unsteady movement to one side or forward.
Grammar: Usually singular with a: the car gave a lurch.
Patterns
- give a lurch
- a lurch forward
The train gave a violent lurch and stopped.
She felt a lurch in her stomach as the elevator dropped.
With a lurch, the old truck started moving.
phraseidiominformal
In the phrase leave someone in the lurch, to abandon them when they urgently need help.
Grammar: Fixed idiom: leave someone in the lurch, never a changed form of the noun.
Patterns
- leave someone in the lurch
The caterer cancelled, leaving us in the lurch two days before the party.
Don't leave your teammates in the lurch by quitting now.
He felt guilty about leaving his partner in the lurch.
Word forms
| third person singular | lurches |
|---|---|
| past tense | lurched |
| past participle | lurched |
| -ing form | lurching |
| plural noun | lurches |
Common combinations
- lurch forward
- The car lurched forward and stalled.
- lurch to a halt
- The old tram lurched to a halt at the corner.
- lurch from crisis to crisis
- The company lurched from crisis to crisis all year.
- stomach lurches
- My stomach lurched when I saw the bill.
- leave in the lurch
- They left me in the lurch just before the exam.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stagger
- Stagger stresses unsteady walking, usually from weakness or drink, while lurch can describe vehicles and sudden jerks too.
- stumble
- Stumble means nearly falling over something, whereas lurch is a bigger, rougher swing.
- jolt
- Jolt is a short, sharp shake, and lurch implies a swaying movement in one direction.
- sway
- Sway is slow and rhythmic, while lurch is abrupt and uncontrolled.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: lurch or lurch vs. lunge?
lurch vs lurch vs. lunge
A lunge is a deliberate sudden forward thrust toward something; a lurch is an unplanned stumble or jerk.
Practice
The old minibus suddenly ___ forward, and the passengers nearly fell out of their seats.
Choose one answer.
Lurched shows a sudden, rough jolt. Glided and drifted suggest smooth movement, and strolled describes walking.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lurch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.