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.

Common collocations

• latch on Verb + adverb

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”).

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images