Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British A crossbred dog used by poachers.
- n. Archaic A sneak thief.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One who lies in wait or lurks; one who watches, as to entrap or steal; a poacher.
- n. A sort of hunting-dog, said to be a cross between the shepherd's dog and the greyhound, much used by poachers, because it hunts both by sight and by scent.
- n. A glutton; a gormandizer.
Wiktionary
- n. A type of dog- a cross between a sighthound and any other breed.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One that lurches or lies in wait; one who watches to pilfer, or to betray or entrap; one who lurks; a lurker; a poacher.
- n. One of a mongrel breed of dogs said to have been a cross between the sheep dog, greyhound, and spaniel. It hunts game silently, by scent, and is often used by poachers.
- n. A glutton; a gormandizer.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone waiting in concealment
Etymologies
- Middle English, from lorchen, to lurk, perhaps from lurken; see lurk.
Examples
“Merry Christmas all. on December 22, 2009 at 5: 56 pm joker the lurcher dear inspector, could you make sure the limited edition t-shirts come in lurcher size as well as human?”
It Is Christmas in Ruralshire. Say It And Be Proud. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG
“He was a great man for solitary walks, too — he and an old dog he had, called Crib, a cross-bred mongrel-looking brute, most like what they call a lurcher in England, father said.”
“He was a great man for solitary walks, too -- he and an old dog he had, called Crib, a cross-bred mongrel-looking brute, most like what they call a lurcher in England, father said.”
Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields
“Next evening then, in the gloamin ', he turned up at our lodgings, wi' two dogs at his heel, a greyhound and a lurcher -- a lurcher is a coursing dog, a cross between a collie and a greyhound.”
“The lurcher is a dog seldom found in the possession of the honourable sportsman.”
“The lurcher, which is seven years old, is white with grey markings and blue eyes.”
“-- _Holt's Memoirs_, vol.ii. p. 137.] [Footnote 167: "A lurcher is the lowest order of thieves.”
“Don't you see, you brute, that my dog is a lurcher? "and so, repeating the word" lurcher "again and again, he sent the madman away beaten to a jelly.”
“lurcher" again and again, he sent the madman away beaten to a jelly.”
“I wrote about my encounter in a column I was then writing for the Times of London, describing the leggy, energetic Gibbs as a blonde lurcher in a parka and extolling the virtues of her methodology.”
Lists
‘lurcher’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
hernesheir A crossbred sighthound dog developed by the gypsies and traveling people of Britain and Ireland used for poaching rabbits and other small game. The lurcher is not a pure breed, because many different crosses are possible, generally between a sighthound and some breed of pastoral dog or terrier. Sep 27, 2009
chained_bear In the Bewick book, the illustration this word describes looks like a wolfhound. Aug 25, 2008