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PERCH

 - 6 dictionary results
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perch

1  [purch]
Use PERCH in a Sentence
–noun
1. a pole or rod, usually horizontal, serving as a roost for birds.
2. any place or object, as a sill, fence, branch, or twig, for a bird, animal, or person to alight or rest upon.
3. a high or elevated position, resting place, or the like.
4. a small, elevated seat for the driver of any of certain vehicles.
5. a pole connecting the fore and hind running parts of a spring carriage or other vehicle.
6. a post set up as a navigational aid on a navigational hazard or on a buoy.
7. British.
a. a linear or square rod.
b. a measure of volume for stone, about 24 cubic feet (0.7 cubic meters).
8. Textiles. an apparatus consisting of two vertical posts and a horizontal roller, used for inspecting cloth after it leaves the loom.
9. Obsolete. any pole, rod, or the like.
–verb (used without object)
10. to alight or rest upon a perch.
11. to settle or rest in some elevated position, as if on a perch.
–verb (used with object)
12. to set or place on or as if on a perch.
13. to inspect (cloth) for defects and blemishes after it has been taken from the loom and placed upon a perch.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME perche < OF < L pertica pole, staff, measuring rod

Related forms:
perch⋅a⋅ble, adjective
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perch

2  [purch]
–noun, plural (especially collectively) perch, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) perch⋅es.
1. any spiny-finned, freshwater food fish of the genus Perca, as P. flavescens (yellow perch), of the U.S., or P. fluviatilis, of Europe.
2. any of various other related, spiny-finned fishes.
3. any of several embioticid fishes, as Hysterocarpus traski (tule perch) of California.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME perche < MF < L perca < Gk pérkē
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To PERCH
perch 1   (pûrch)   
n.  

  1. A rod or branch serving as a roost for a bird.

    1. An elevated place for resting or sitting.

    2. A position that is secure, advantageous, or prominent.

    3. A linear measure equal to 5.50 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters); a rod.

    4. One square rod of land.

  3. A pole, stick, or rod.

  4. Chiefly British

    1. A linear measure equal to 5.50 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters); a rod.

    2. One square rod of land.

  5. A unit of cubic measure used in stonework, usually 16.5 feet by 1.0 foot by 1.5 feet, or 24.75 cubic feet (0.70 cubic meter).

  6. A frame on which cloth is laid for examination of quality.

v.   perched, perch·ing, perch·es

v.   intr.

  1. To alight or rest on a perch; roost: A raven perched high in the pine.

  2. To stand, sit, or rest on an elevated place or position.

v.   tr.

  1. To place on or as if on a perch: The child perched the glass on the edge of the counter.

  2. To lay (cloth) on a perch in order to examine it.


[Middle English perche, from Old French, from Latin pertica, stick, pole.]
perch 2   (pûrch)   
n.   pl. perch or perch·es

  1. Any of various spiny-finned freshwater fishes of the genus Perca, especially either of two edible species, P. flavescens, of North America, and P. fluviatilis, of Europe.

  2. Any of various similar or related fishes, such as the pike perch or the grouper.


[Middle English perche, from Old French, from Latin perca, from Greek perkē.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

perch  (1)
"where a bird rests," c.1290, "a pole, rod, stick, stake," from O.Fr. perche "unit of linear measurement" (5.5 yards), also "measuring rod, pole, bar" used to measure this length (13c.), from L. pertica "pole, long staff, measuring rod," related to Oscan perek "pole," Umbrian perkaf "twigs, rods." Meaning "a bar fixed horizontally for a hawk or tame bird to rest on" is attested from c.1386; this led to general sense of "any thing that any bird alights or rests on" (1470). Fig. sense of "an elevated or secure position" is recorded from 1526. The verb is first recorded c.1384, from the noun. The "land-measuring rod" sense also was in M.E., hence surviving meaning "measure of land equal to a square lineal perch" (usually 160 to the acre), 1442.

perch  (2)
"spiny-finned freshwater fish," c.1300, from O.Fr. perche, from L. perca "perch," from Gk. perke, from PIE base *perk-/*prek- "speckled, spotted" (cf. Skt. prsnih "speckled, variegated;" Gk. perknos "dark-colored," perkazein "to become dark").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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