Linch
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A ledge, a terrace; a right-angled projection; a lynchet.
"Within ten years linches were formed; rain washed down the mould, some accident arrested it at a certain line, and a terrace was the result. Certainly the tendency is for the upper part of such a field to be denuded of mould, to be worked "to the bone," i.e. to the bare chalk or stone. But the first makers of linches had no choice. They had to farm on slopes or not at all, […]"
- 2 An acclivity; a small hill or hillock. obsolete, rare, regional
"I lay down on a linch to lithe my bones."
Example
More examples"Within ten years linches were formed; rain washed down the mould, some accident arrested it at a certain line, and a terrace was the result. Certainly the tendency is for the upper part of such a field to be denuded of mould, to be worked "to the bone," i.e. to the bare chalk or stone. But the first makers of linches had no choice. They had to farm on slopes or not at all, […]"
Etymology
From Middle English linche, link, from Old English hlinċ (“a hill”). Possible doublet of lynch.
More for "linch"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.