Latch

How to spell latch

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce latch

What does latch mean?

1. nounA small bar or catch that fastens a door, gate, or window when it drops or slides into place.
2. verbTo fasten or secure something with a latch, or to take firm hold of something.

Latch in a sentence

• noun

  The garden gate has a rusty latch that sticks in cold weather.

• verb

  Remember to latch the back door before you leave the house.

• noun

  She lifted the latch and pushed the door open quietly.

• verb

  The toddler tends to latch onto his mother's leg in crowded shops.

Where does latch come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from the Old English verb læccan, which meant 'to grasp, seize, or catch hold of something'. That sense of grabbing is the thread that runs through its whole history: a door latch is simply the part that catches and holds the door shut. The noun for the fastening device emerged in Middle English, while the older verb sense of seizing survives in the modern phrase 'to latch onto', meaning to grab and cling to. The word shares its Germanic family with ideas of catching and holding rather than with any Latin or French import, which is why it keeps its short, blunt, distinctly English shape. The spelling trap is small but real: the final sound is written -tch after the short vowel, not just -ch, the same pattern seen in match, catch, and patch.

How the word is built

• latch (from Old English læccan: to grasp, seize) used as both noun and verb