latch
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
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Etymology [edit]
Middle English latche (“a latch”), from lacchen (“to seize”), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize”), from Proto-Germanic *lak(w)janan, *lakkijanan (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lag-, *(s)lagw- (“to take, seize”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
latch (plural latches)
- 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.
- 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 4
- The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.
- 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 4
- A flip-flop electronic circuit
- (obsolete) A latching.
- (obsolete) A crossbow.
- (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Rom. of R to this entry?)
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
fastening for a door
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latching
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Verb [edit]
latch (third-person singular simple present latches, present participle latching, simple past and past participle latched)
- To close or lock as if with a latch
- To catch; lay hold of
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- Where hearing should not latch them. — Shakespeare, MacBeth, Act IV
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