Adjacent Words

Perch definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERCH, n. [L. perca.] A fish of the genus Perca. This fish has a deep body, very rough scales, an arched back, and prickly dorsal fins.
PERCH, n. [L. pertica.]
1. A pole; hence, a roost for fowls, which is often a pole; also, any thing on which they light.
2. A measure of length containing five yards and a half; a rod. In the popular language of America, rod is chiefly used; but rod,pole, and perch, all signifying the same thing, may be used indifferently.
PERCH, v.i. To sit or roost; as a bird.
1. To light or settle on a fixed body; as a bird.
PERCH, v.t. To place on a fixed object or perch.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: support consisting of a branch or rod that serves as a resting place (especially for a bird)
2: a linear measure of 16.5 feet [syn: perch, rod, pole]
3: a square rod of land [syn: perch, rod, pole]
4: an elevated place serving as a seat
5: any of numerous fishes of America and Europe
6: spiny-finned freshwater food and game fishes
7: any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of various families of the order Perciformes v
1: sit, as on a branch; "The birds perched high in the tree" [syn: perch, roost, rest]
2: to come to rest, settle; "Misfortune lighted upon him" [syn: alight, light, perch]
3: cause to perch or sit; "She perched her hat on her head"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English perche, from Anglo-French, from Latin pertica pole Date: 14th century 1. a bar or peg on which something is hung 2. a. a roost for a bird b. a resting place or vantage point ; seat c. a prominent position <his new perch as president> 3. chiefly British rod 2 II. verb Date: 14th century intransitive verb to alight, settle, or rest on a perch, a height, or a precarious spot transitive verb to place on a perch, a height, or a precarious spot III. noun (plural perch or perches) Etymology: Middle English perche, from Anglo-French, from Latin perca, from Greek perk?; akin to Old High German faro colored, Latin porcus, a spiny fish Date: 14th century 1. a. a small European freshwater bony fish (Perca fluviatilis of the family Percidae, the perch family) b. yellow perch 2. any of numerous bony fishes (as of the families Percidae, Centrarchidae, and Serranidae)

Britannica Concise

Either of two species (family Percidae, order Perciformes) of popular food and sport fishes: the Eurasian common perch (Perca fluviatilis) or the N. Amer. yellow perch (P. flavescens). Some consider the two a single species. Both have one spiny and one soft-rayed dorsal fin. Perches are carnivores of quiet ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers. The common perch is greenish, with dark vertical bars on the sides and reddish in the lower fins. It grows to 6 lbs (3 kg), rarely more. The yellow perch, similar but yellower, grows to about 15 in. (40 cm) and weighs up to 2 lbs (1 kg); it is a popular game fish. See also sauger, sea bass, walleye.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a usu. horizontal bar, branch, etc. used by a bird to rest on. 2 a usu. high or precarious place for a person or thing to rest on. 3 a measure of length, esp. for land, of 51/2 yards (see also ROD, POLE). --v.intr. & tr. (usu. foll. by on) settle or rest, or cause to settle or rest on or as if on a perch etc. (the bird perched on a branch; a town perched on a hill). Phrases and idioms: knock a person off his perch 1 vanquish, destroy. 2 make less confident or secure. square perch 301/4 sq. yards. Etymology: ME f. OF perche, percher f. L pertica pole 2. n. (pl. same or perches) any spiny-finned freshwater edible fish of the genus Perca, esp. P. fluviatilis of Europe. Etymology: ME f. OF perche f. L perca f. Gk perke

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rod Rod, n. [The same word as rood. See Rood.] 1. A straight and slender stick; a wand; hence, any slender bar, as of wood or metal (applied to various purposes). Specifically: (a) An instrument of punishment or correction; figuratively, chastisement. He that spareth his rod hateth his son. --Prov. xiii. 24. (b) A kind of sceptor, or badge of office; hence, figuratively, power; authority; tyranny; oppression. ``The rod, and bird of peace.'' --Shak. (c) A support for a fishing line; a fish pole. --Gay. (d) (Mach. & Structure) A member used in tension, as for sustaining a suspended weight, or in tension and compression, as for transmitting reciprocating motion, etc.; a connecting bar. (e) An instrument for measuring. 2. A measure of length containing sixteen and a half feet; -- called also perch, and pole. Black rod. See in the Vocabulary. Rods and cones (Anat.), the elongated cells or elements of the sensory layer of the retina, some of which are cylindrical, others somewhat conical.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sprat Sprat, n. [OE. sprot, sprotte, D. sprot; akin to G. sprotte.] (Zo["o]l.) (a) A small European herring (Clupea sprattus) closely allied to the common herring and the pilchard; -- called also garvie. The name is also applied to small herring of different kinds. (b) A California surf-fish (Rhacochilus toxotes); -- called also alfione, and perch. Sprat borer (Zo["o]l.), the red-throated diver; -- so called from its fondness for sprats. See Diver. Sprat loon. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The young of the great northern diver. [Prov. Eng.] (b) The red-throated diver. See Diver. Sprat mew (Zo["o]l.), the kittiwake gull.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perch Perch (p[~e]rch), n. [Written also pearch.] [OE. perche, F. perche, L. perca, fr. Gr. pe`rkh; cf. perkno`s dark-colored, Skr. p[.r][,c]ni spotted, speckled, and E. freckle.] (Zo["o]l.) 1. Any fresh-water fish of the genus Perca and of several other allied genera of the family Percid[ae], as the common American or yellow perch (Perca flavescens, or Americana), and the European perch (P. fluviatilis). 2. Any one of numerous species of spiny-finned fishes belonging to the Percid[ae], Serranid[ae], and related families, and resembling, more or less, the true perches. Black perch. (a) The black bass. (b) The flasher. (c) The sea bass. Blue perch, the cunner. Gray perch, the fresh-water drum. Red perch, the rosefish. Red-bellied perch, the long-eared pondfish. Perch pest, a small crustacean, parasitic in the mouth of the perch. Silver perch, the yellowtail. Stone, or Striped, perch, the pope. White perch, the Roccus, or Morone, Americanus, a small silvery serranoid market fish of the Atlantic coast.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perch Perch (p[~e]rch), n. [Written also pearch.] [OE. perche, F. perche, L. perca, fr. Gr. pe`rkh; cf. perkno`s dark-colored, Skr. p[.r][,c]ni spotted, speckled, and E. freckle.] (Zo["o]l.) 1. Any fresh-water fish of the genus Perca and of several other allied genera of the family Percid[ae], as the common American or yellow perch (Perca flavescens, or Americana), and the European perch (P. fluviatilis). 2. Any one of numerous species of spiny-finned fishes belonging to the Percid[ae], Serranid[ae], and related families, and resembling, more or less, the true perches. Black perch. (a) The black bass. (b) The flasher. (c) The sea bass. Blue perch, the cunner. Gray perch, the fresh-water drum. Red perch, the rosefish. Red-bellied perch, the long-eared pondfish. Perch pest, a small crustacean, parasitic in the mouth of the perch. Silver perch, the yellowtail. Stone, or Striped, perch, the pope. White perch, the Roccus, or Morone, Americanus, a small silvery serranoid market fish of the Atlantic coast.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perch Perch, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Perched; p. pr. & vb. n. Perching.] [F. percher. See Perch a pole.] To alight or settle, as a bird; to sit or roost. Wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perch Perch, v. t. 1. To place or to set on, or as on, a perch. 2. To occupy as a perch. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perch Perch, n. [F. perche, L. pertica.] 1. A pole; a long staff; a rod; esp., a pole or other support for fowls to roost on or to rest on; a roost; figuratively, any elevated resting place or seat. As chauntecleer among his wives all Sat on his perche, that was in his hall. --Chaucer. Not making his high place the lawless perch Of winged ambitions. --Tennyson. 2. (a) A measure of length containing five and a half yards; a rod, or pole. (b) In land or square measure: A square rod; the 160th part of an acre. (c) In solid measure: A mass 161/2 feet long, 1 foot in height, and 11/2 feet in breadth, or 243/4 cubic feet (in local use, from 22 to 25 cubic feet); -- used in measuring stonework. 3. A pole connecting the fore gear and hind gear of a spring carriage; a reach.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(perches, perching, perched) Note: The form 'perch' is used for both the singular and plural in meaning 6. 1. If you perch on something, you sit down lightly on the very edge or tip of it. He lit a cigarette and perched on the corner of the desk... He perched himself on the side of the bed. VERB: V prep/adv, V pron-refl prep/adv • perched She was perched on the edge of the sofa. ADJ: v-link ADJ prep/adv 2. To perch somewhere means to be on the top or edge of something. ...the vast slums that perch precariously on top of the hills around which the city was built. VERB: V prep/adv • perched St. John's is a small college perched high up in the hills... ADJ: v-link ADJ prep/adv 3. If you perch something on something else, you put or balance it on the top or edge of that thing. The builders have perched a light concrete dome on eight slender columns. VERB: V n on n 4. When a bird perches on something such as a branch or a wall, it lands on it and stands there. A blackbird flew down and perched on the parapet outside his window. VERB: V prep 5. A perch is a short rod for a bird to stand on. N-COUNT 6. A perch is an edible fish. There are several kinds of perch. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Pole, staff, rod. 2. Roost. 3. Elevated position, height. 4. Pole, rod, 5½ yards. 5. Rod, 1/160 of an acre. 6. (Arch.) Bracket, console. II. v. n. Roost, sit on a perch.

Moby Thesaurus

abide, abut on, alight, anchor, aviary, be based on, be seated, bear on, berth, bestraddle, bestride, billet at, bird cage, birdhouse, bivouac, bunk, burrow, camp, climb down, cohabit, colonize, columbary, come to anchor, dismount, domesticate, domicile, domiciliate, doss down, dovecote, drop anchor, dwell, ensconce, establish residence, foothold, footing, footplate, footrail, footrest, get down, get off, hang out, hive, hold, inhabit, keep house, land, lean on, lie on, light, live, live at, locate, location, locus standi, lodge, moor, move, nest, occupy, park, people, perspective, pigeon house, pigeon loft, place, populate, position, purchase, put, relocate, rely on, remain, remain seated, repose on, reside, rest, rest on, ride, room, roost, roosting place, seat, set, set down, set up housekeeping, set up shop, settle, settle down, sit, sit down, sit on, site, situate, spot, squat, stance, stand, stand on, standing, standing place, stay, stay at, straddle, stride, strike root, take residence at, take root, take up residence, tenant, toehold, touch down, unhorse, vantage point