LATCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does latch mean? 

• LATCH (noun)
  The noun LATCH has 2 senses:

1. spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key

2. catch for fastening a door or gate; a bar that can be lowered or slid into a groove

  Familiarity information: LATCH used as a noun is rare.

• LATCH (verb)
  The verb LATCH has 1 sense:

1. fasten with a latch

  Familiarity information: LATCH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LATCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

door latch; latch

Hypernyms ("latch" is a kind of...):

lock (a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed)

Derivation:

latch (fasten with a latch)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Catch for fastening a door or gate; a bar that can be lowered or slid into a groove

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("latch" is a kind of...):

catch (a fastener that fastens or locks a door or window)

Derivation:

latch (fasten with a latch)

• LATCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they latch    ... he / she / it latches   
Past simple: latched   
Past participle: latched   
-ing form: latching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fasten with a latch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

latch the door

Hypernyms (to "latch" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

latch (catch for fastening a door or gate; a bar that can be lowered or slid into a groove)

latch (spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key)

 Context examples 

The great gates were closed and locked; but a wicket in one of them was only latched.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Unwittingly, his hand rattled the door-latch.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It opens with a latch, and there is nothing to prevent anyone from walking in.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I laid my hand upon the latch; and whispering Steerforth to keep close to me, went in.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

For this man is Peter Peterson, a very noted rieve, draw-latch, and murtherer, who has wrought much evil for many years in the parts about Winchester.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he went straight to the grandmother’s bed, and devoured her.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Van Helsing pulled back the latch, and, holding the door half open, stood back, having both hands ready for action.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"Even among ants that power-amplify their jaws, the Dracula ants are unique: Instead of using three different parts for the spring, latch and lever arm, all three are combined in the mandible."

(Dracula Ant Found to Be Fastest Creature on Earth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the forecastle of an emigrant ship.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Entering a portal, fastened only by a latch, I stood amidst a space of enclosed ground, from which the wood swept away in a semicircle.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)