Latch Definition

lăch
latched, latches, latching
noun
latches
A fastening for a door or gate, esp. one capable of being worked from either side by means of a lever and consisting of a bar that drops into a notch in a piece attached to the doorjamb or gatepost.
Webster's New World

A spring lock on a door; specif., a night latch.

Webster's New World
A fastening for a window, etc.
Webster's New World

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.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
verb
latched, latches, latching
To fasten or close with a latch.
Webster's New World
To have or be closed with a latch.
American Heritage
To shut tightly so that the latch is engaged.
A door too warped to latch.
American Heritage

To catch; lay hold of.

Wiktionary

(obsolete) To smear; to anoint.

Wiktionary
idiom
latch on to
  • To get hold of; obtain:

    latched on to a fortune in the fur trade.

  • To cling to.
American Heritage
latch on to
  • to seize or grasp
  • to comprehend or embrace (an idea, etc.)
Webster's New World
on the latch
  • fastened by the latch but not locked or bolted
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Latch

Noun

Singular:
latch
Plural:
latches

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Latch

Origin of Latch

  • Middle English latche (“a latch"), from lacchen (“to seize"), from Old English læċċan (“to grasp, take hold of, catch, seize"), from Proto-Germanic *lakjanÄ…, *lakwijanÄ…, *lakkijanÄ… (“to seize"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lag-, *(s)lagw- (“to take, seize").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English latche from lacchen to seize from Old English læccan

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Compare French lécher (“to lick").

    From Wiktionary

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