▪ I. lurcher1
(ˈlɜːtʃə(r))
Also 6 lorcher, 8 lircher.
[f. lurch v.1 + -er1. In early Dicts. often used to render L. lurco glutton, with which it has no etymological connexion.]
† 1. One who ‘lurches’ (see lurch v.1 2) or forestalls others of their fair share of food; hence, a glutton. Obs.
| [c 1440: see lurker1 3.] 1530 Palsgr. 241/1 Lurcher an exceeding eater, galiffre. Ibid. 500/2 Se howe he crammeth in his meate lyke a lurcher. 1591 Lyly Endimion ii. ii, Is not loue a lurcher, that taketh mens stomacks away that they cannot eate, their Spleen that they cannot laugh [etc.]. 1608 Middleton Mad World v. i. Wks. (Dyce) II. 407 Take heed of a lurcher, he cuts deep, he will eat up all from you. 1616 Boys Wks. (1629) 821 The Mass-priests are gross lurchers at the Lord's Table. |
2. One who pilfers or filches in a mean fashion; a petty thief, swindler, rogue.
| 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 98 Ye but thorowe falce lorchers And vnthryfty abbey lobbers To povre folcke lytell they a forde. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 459 No seale will serue to make sure either such lurchers themselues for filching, or keep the very locks and keies safe. 1705 Penn in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 20 To be treated as a lurcher of the people..is more..than any poor mortal could bear. 1714 Gay Trivia iii. 64 Swift from his Prey the scudding Lurcher flies. 1831 E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son I. 72 This Caledonian lurcher..had three or four dozen of shirts, with every one a different mark. 1891 Morn. Advert. 3 Apr. (Farmer), It was quite time that the honest and respectable drivers sat down on the lurchers once and for all. |
3. One who loiters or lies hidden in a suspicious manner; a spy.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Lurcher, one that lies upon the Lurch or upon the Catch. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) I. 199 Some..with outward bravade,..went searching along the walls and behind the posts for some lurcher. 1774 Foote Cozeners ii. Wks. 1799 II. 172, I thought that I had detected love, that sly lurcher, lurking under the mask. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxii, Our Lord may choose the rack should teach To this young lurcher use of speech. 1894 Daily News 7 June 2/7 The prisoner..said prosecutor was a lurcher, and was only sent out as a decoy. |
4. A cross-bred dog, properly between the sheepdog or collie and the greyhound; largely used by poachers for catching hares and rabbits.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. v. 161 Greater Beasts; Greyhounds. Lesser Beasts; Lurchers. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., Why should the ears of all..be dinn'd..as if the whole world besides were all Weasils and Poulcats, vermine and Lurchers? 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 1053/4 Lost.., a Pied Dog..somewhat shap't like a Lurcher. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 185/1 The Tumbler, or Lurcher is..in shape like the Grey-hound. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 304 The Lircher is a kind of Dog much like a Mungril Greyhound. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe i, A ragged wolfish-looking dog, a sort of lurcher, half mastiff, half greyhound. 1894 Field 9 June 813/2 The usual lurcher is between the greyhound and collie; they cross well, and the speed of one is combined with the sagacity of the other. |
b. slang. A bumbailiff.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v., A lurcher of the law, a bum-bailiff, or his setter. 1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard ii, ‘But, where are the lurchers?’ ‘Who?’ asked Wood. ‘The traps!’ replied a bystander. |
▪ II. ˈlurcher2 rare.
[f. lurch v.3 + -er1.]
One who lurches from side to side.
| 1878 Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. I. ii. 164 The most lop-sided and lurcher-like of rustics was bound to become perpendicular. |