latch

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   fasten with a latch

   Latch the door.

2. 2
   verb

   To catch; lay hold of.

   Where hearing should not latch them.

3. 3
   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.

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.

   Love will none other birde catch, Though he set either nette or latch.

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”).

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