In seamen's language, a sudden roll of a ship. A lee-lurch is a sudden roll to the leeward, as when a heavy sea strikes the ship on the weather side.
To leave in the lurch, to leave in a difficult situation, or in embarrassment; to leave in a forlorn state or without help.
LURCH, v.i.
1. To roll or pass suddenly to one side, as a ship in a heavy sea.
2. To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lie in ambush or in secret; to lie close. [For this, lurk is now used.]
3. To shift; to play tricks.
I am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch.
LURCH, v.t.
1. To defeat; to disappoint, that is, to evade; as, to lurch the expectation. [Little used.]
2. To steal; to filch; to pilfer. [Little used.]
LURCH, v.t. [L. lurco, a glutton.] To swallow or eat greedily; to devour. [Not used.]
