verb / noun
lurch
LURCH/lɜːrtʃ/
A sudden, unsteady movement or change.
The man lurches sideways when his shoe catches the raised paving edge.
Etymology
The earlier nautical term described a wave making a ship roll suddenly to one side. This shipboard motion supplies the image behind the broader verb for a sudden sideways movement.
In context
Let that weight lurch to one side in a seaway, and a ship can be thrown into a list she cannot recover from
More examples
- She lurched forward when her foot caught on the rug.
- We brace ourselves against the boat's sudden lurches.
- The project lurches from one crisis to the next.
Forms
lurch · lurches · lurched · lurching
Similar words
- jolt
- Emphasizes a sharp jerk or shock rather than unsteadiness.
- stagger
- Usually describes unsteady steps while struggling to keep balance.