▪ I. litch Obs. exc. dial.
(lɪtʃ)
[Of obscure origin: cf. leech n.3 and n.4]
1. A handful (of reeds, etc.); a bundle (of cords, yarn, etc.). In mod. use, ‘a tangled mass’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Thomices, lyches of hempe wherwith halters are made. 1552 Huloet, Liches or linckes of cordes, halters, or ropes, thomices. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 39 Being thus prepared, take out of that wet bundle a litch of 40 or 50 reeds or straws. |
2. (See quot.) [Perh. a different word.]
| 1851 H. Newland Erne 59 The Captain who had been baiting a formidable litch with a good sized par. Footnote, Litch,..An arrangement of hooks and swivels calculated to give the appearance of life to a dead bait. |
▪ II. litch
variant of lich, body.