English Explanatory Dictionary

latch

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
  2. To catch; lay hold of.
  3. To use a latch (kind of lightweight lock).
  4. To connect to the breast.
noun
  1. A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
  2. An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
  3. A latching.
  4. A crossbow.
  5. That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
  6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
  7. A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.
verb
  1. To smear; to anoint.
noun
  1. Acronym of lower anchors and tethers for children.

Pronunciation

lăch /læt͡ʃ/ en-us-latch.ogg

Word forms

latch latches latching latched laught lech letch

Etymology

From Middle English lacchen (“to seize, catch, grasp”, verb), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, *lakwijaną, *lakkijaną (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂g-, *(s)leh₂gʷ- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lakken (“to grasp, catch”).

Derived words

latchable latcher latch on latch on to latch onto relatch unlatch chain latch deadlatch doorlatch drawlatch latchbolt latchet Latchford latchkey latchless latchstring latch-up on the latch spring latch throatlatch throat latch
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