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# lurch

«lurch» in Mova's school dictionary: **To move suddenly and unsteadily, like a bus that jolts or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (lurch, lurches, lurched, lurching); noun (a lurch, lurches)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (verb) To move suddenly and unsteadily, like a bus that jolts or a person who nearly falls. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#m1)

2) (noun) A sudden jerky movement. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#m2)

3) (leave someone in the lurch) To leave someone alone when they need help. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories: the ship lurched in the storm, the zombie lurched forward — the word tells the reader the movement was sudden and clumsy. In everyday life «My stomach lurched» means a sudden scary feeling. Phrases: «lurch forward», «with a lurch», «leave someone in the lurch».

### examples

- The bus lurched forward and I grabbed the rail. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x1)
- The ship lurched in the huge waves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x2)
- My stomach lurched when I saw how high we were. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x3)
- The car stopped with a lurch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x4)
- He lurched across the room half asleep. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x5)
- Don't leave your partner in the lurch — finish your part of the project. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x6)
- At that moment the ship gave a great lurch forward into the waves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/#x7)

### note

Verb: lurched, lurching; plural noun: lurches. Similar: jolt, jerk, stagger. «Leave in the lurch» is an idiom; it has nothing to do with movement.

### In the corpora

- [When a bus or car brakes suddenly, the people inside lurch forward.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/10-reasoning-about-the-moving-body/11/)
- [When a car brakes, your body keeps moving forward; when it turns sharply, you lurch outwards.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/36-speed-fast-and-slow/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «lurch» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lurch/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.