Latch Meaning
/læt͡ʃ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo close or lock as if with a latch.
verbTo catch; lay hold of.
Sentence Examples
Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up.
The door is on the latch.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She pushed the door closed and then turned the metal ____ to lock it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She lifted the metal ____ and opened the heavy wooden door to reveal the beautiful garden that lay behind it.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Where hearing should not latch them."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
"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."
— 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 4, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
"Love will none other birde catch,
Though he set either nette or latch"
— c. 1360s (date written), Geffray Chaucer [i.e., Geoffrey Chaucer], “The Romaunt of the Rose”, in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London: […] Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], published 1542, →OCLC:
"But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes
With the love-juice , as I did bid thee do?"
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She pushed the door closed and then turned the metal ____ to lock it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She lifted the metal ____ and opened the heavy wooden door to reveal the beautiful garden that lay behind it.