perched

[ purcht ]
See synonyms for perched on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. (of a bird) resting on a perch, such as a branch, telephone wire, or fence, or a rod specially designed for the purpose: While hiking I caught sight of a perched owl near the trail.

  2. settled or resting in a relatively high position, like a bird on a perch: The tour will stop for lunch in a perched village offering a splendid view of the entire French Riviera coastline.

  1. Geology. (of a boulder or block) left on the top of a hill, ridge, etc., by ice that melted after carrying it there: As you continue hiking southeast, look out for the perched boulder overlooking a pond.

  2. Geology.

    • (of a lake) having a surface level at an unusually high elevation, well above that of aquifers and other bodies of water in the area, because it has formed on a dense, hardened layer of sand mixed with organic matter that traps water on top of it: Half of all the world’s known perched lakes are found on Australia’s Fraser Island.

    • (of an aquifer) occurring above the regional water table, having been formed by an accumulation of groundwater that cannot permeate the underlying layer of clay or other dense soil: Perched aquifers are sometimes good water sources, but they tend to be relatively small and easily depleted with overpumping.

verb
  1. the simple past tense and past participle of perch1.

Origin of perched

1
First recorded in 1815–25; perch1 + -ed2 for the adjective senses; perch1 + -ed1 for the verb sense

Other words from perched

  • un·perched, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024