Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Chiefly British A crossbred dog formerly used chiefly by hunters and poachers.
  • noun Archaic A sneak thief.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who lies in wait or lurks; one who watches, as to entrap or steal; a poacher.
  • noun 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.
  • noun A glutton; a gormandizer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A glutton; a gormandizer.
  • noun One that lurches or lies in wait; one who watches to pilfer, or to betray or entrap; one who lurks; a lurker; a poacher.
  • noun (Zoöl.) 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A type of crossbreed dog ― a cross between a sighthound and any other breed or the offspring of such crosses.
  • noun obsolete A glutton; a gormandizer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone waiting in concealment

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from lorchen, to lurk, perhaps from lurken; see lurk.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin lurco, lurcho, a glutton. See lurch.

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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 Inspector Gadget 2009

  • 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 2004

  • 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 Rolf Boldrewood 1870

  • 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.

    Between You and Me Harry Lauder 1910

  • The lurcher is a dog seldom found in the possession of the honourable sportsman.

    The Dog William Youatt 1811

  • The lurcher, which is seven years old, is white with grey markings and blue eyes.

    News round-up 2009

  • The lurcher, which is seven years old, is white with grey markings and blue eyes.

    News round-up 2009

  • The lurcher, which is seven years old, is white with grey markings and blue eyes.

    News round-up 2009

  • The lurcher, which is seven years old, is white with grey markings and blue eyes.

    News round-up 2009

  • The lurcher, which is seven years old, is white with grey markings and blue eyes.

    News round-up 2009

Comments

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  • In the Bewick book, the illustration this word describes looks like a wolfhound.

    August 26, 2008

  • 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.

    September 28, 2009