Definition of "lurch"

The ship was driving rapidly towards the rocky coast, against which she must have been dashed to pieces had she kept afloat a few minutes longer, but she gave a lurch and went down, rose again for an instant, and with another lurch sank, and all was over,—and there were nearly two hundred and fifty human beings struggling with the waves.

1850, William O. S. Gilly, “The Tribune”, in Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy […] ‎, London: John W. Parker

Yet I hoped by grouting at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one side, and I was left in darkness.

1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934

It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion stairs into the cabin.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Strike the Jolly Roger”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883

The incident made it think, apparently, that the neighborhood was dangerous, for it slowly lurched off through the wood, followed by its mate and its three enormous infants.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton

Number One lurched forward, his arms outstretched toward the horror stricken girl.

1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 3, in The Monster Men‎, published 1929

He was looking for trouble. He lurched against a table at which three soldiers were sitting and knocked over a glass of beer.

1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XLVII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […]

Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.

1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Building”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret

Lady Blandford has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch.

August 14, 1784, Horace Walpole, letter to the Hon. H. S. Conway

Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.

1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727

And in the brunt of seventeen battles since / He lurched all swords of the garland.

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ii]