(Orig. Naut.) [f. LURCH sb.3]
1. intr. Of a ship, etc.: To make a lurch; to lean suddenly over to one side; to move with lurches.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, xv. We heeled over so much when we lurched, that the guns were wholly supported by the breechings and tackles.
1845. R. Cobbold, Marg. Catchpole, xx. II. 50. The boat lurched through the breakers like a log.
1866. Neale, Sequences & Hymns, 37. Tempests of temptations Made our vessel lurch and dip.
1902. Speaker, 9 Sept., 601/1. It lurches up and down like a ship at sea.
fig. 1858. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., V. ii. (1872), 11. 76. The Kaiser’s Imperial Ostend East-India Company … made Europe lurch from side to side in a terrific manner.
2. To move suddenly, unsteadily and without purpose in any direction, as, e.g., a person staggering.
1851. Thackeray, Humourists, v. (1858), 241. Where the tipsy trainband-man is lurching against the post.
1851. D. C. Mitchell, Fresh Gleanings, 16. My London beaver … lurched over and fell among them.
1870. E. Peacock, Ralf Skirl., I. 263. The dogs lurched violently forward.
1879. Howells, L. Aroostook, ii. 12. These men lurched in their gait with an uncouth heaviness.
