latch
/læt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.34 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To use a latch (kind of lightweight lock).
noun
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.
noun
An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.
Example Sentences
- "Where hearing should not latch them."
- "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."
- "Love will none other birde catch, Though he set either nette or latch"
- "But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes With the love-juice , as I did bid thee do?"
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”).