In seamen’s language, a sudden roll of a ship. A lee-lurch is a sudden roll to the leeward, as when a heavy sea strikes the ship on the weather side. To leave in the lurch, to leave in a difficult situation, or in embarrassment; to leave in a forlorn state or without help.

To roll or pass suddenly to one side, as a ship in a heavy sea.

To withdraw to one side, or to a private place; to lie in ambush or in secret; to lie close.

To shift; to play tricks. I am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch.

To defeat; to disappoint, that is, to evade; as, to lurch the expectation.

To steal; to filch; to pilfer.

To swallow or eat greedily; to devour.