loch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /lɔx/
ipa: /lɒk/
ipa: /lɒx/
ipa: /lɑk/
note: in some rare cases realized as [lɑç]
ipa: /lɑx/
rhymes: -ɒk
rhymes: -ɒx
homophone: lock
homophone: lough
Forms: form: lochs
Etymology: From Middle English lough, borrowed from Scottish Gaelic loch. Doublet of lay, Looe, and lough.
Senses: examples: text: The greater part of Leuchars Loch belonged to the Inneses of Leuchars, Cotts to the Inneses of Innes; and while thus poſſeſſed, many unſucceſsful attempts to drain both, by canals, to the river Loſſie, ſeem to have been made. […] [A] very ordinary fall of rain raiſes it [the river] far beyond its natural bounds; and the immediate conſequence of ſuch floods, was, the ſpeat-water flowing into thoſe lochs, by the canal, and covering the adjacent meadows.
ref: 1802 November 1, “Account of the Drainage of the Lochs at Leuchars and Cotts, in the County of Moray”, in The Farmer’s Magazine: A Periodical Work, Exclusively Devoted to Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, volume III, number XII, Edinburgh: Printed by D. Willison, for Archibald Constable, [...], →OCLC, pages 453–454:
text: But, enchanting as are the woodland banks of the quiet stream, there is to me a higher and yet more powerful charm in the solitary wildness or savage grandeur of the Highland loch.
ref: 1840, John Colquhoun, “Loch-fishing”, in The Moor and the Loch: […], Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons; London: T[homas] Cadell, →OCLC, page 56:
text: This book may possibly fall into the hands of tourists in the Highlands; and if it should induce any one to visit the Isles of Loch Awe, a few words on my part may save him a good deal of trouble. The inns are so badly situated that no visitors but sportsmen and painters ever think of staying long at Loch Awe. The hotel at Dalmally is an old inconvenient house, three miles from the loch, and wants rebuilding. The inn at Cladich is a mile from the loch, and the footpath in wet weather is almost impassable.
ref: 1855, Philip Gilbert Hamerton, “Notes [on the poem The Isles of Loch Awe]”, in The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of My Youth, London: W. E. Painter, […], →OCLC, page 91:
text: Mr. [James M.] Gale's scheme for doubling the [water] supply was carried through both Houses of Parliament, and was at once put into construction. It especially included the raising of the boundaries of the loch, and it brought into assistance and use other lochs in the Loch Katrine area; and Glasgow and its suburbs are now supplied with water as no other community in the kingdom is supplied.
ref: 1903 September 11, “The Late Mr. James M. Gale”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume LXXVI, London: Offices for advertisements and publication—35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 351, column 2:
text: […] Marmaduke Wetherell was hired by the Daily Mail newspaper to lead a search for the lair of the Loch Ness Monster. […] To everyone's surprise, within a few days of the start of his search, Wetherell came across a huge, four-toed footprint along the shoreline of the loch. This was just the sort of sensational story the newspaper was hoping for.
ref: 2010 January, Rick Emmer, “Into the Limelight”, in Loch Ness Monster: Fact or Fiction? (Creature Science Investigation), New York, N.Y.: Chelsea House Publishers, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 28:
glosses: A lake.
examples: text: It is well known, for instance, that the superiority of the herrings caught in the inland sea-lochs of Scotland is owing to the fish finding there a better feeding-ground than in the large and exposed open bays. Look, for instance, at Lochfyne: the land runs down to the water's edge, and the surface water or drainage carries with it rich food to fatten the loch, and put flesh on the herring; and what fish is finer, I would ask, than a Lochfyne herring?
ref: 1865, James G[lass] Bertram, “Fish Life and Growth”, in The Harvest of the Sea: A Contribution to the Natural and Economic History of the British Food Fishes, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 28:
text: Little Loch Broom is a NW trending sea loch situated approximately 10 km west of Ullapool[…]. The flanks of the loch are characterized by rugged headlands backed by mountains such as An Teallach to the south and Beinn Ghobhlach to the north.
ref: 2010, Martyn S. Stoker, Charles R. Wilson, John A. Howe, Tom Bradwell, David Long, “Paraglacial Slope Instability in Scottish Fjords: Examples from Little Loch Broom, NW Scotland”, in J[ohn] A. Howe, W. E. N. Austin, M. Forwick, M. Paetzel, editors, Fjord Systems and Archives (Geological Society Special Publication; no. 344), London: Published by The Geological Society, →ISBN, page 227, column 1:
glosses: A bay or arm of the sea.
Synonyms: sense: both senses
word: lough
sense: lake
word: lake
sense: bay or arm of the sea
word: bay
sense: bay or arm of the sea
word: firth
sense: bay or arm of the sea
word: sea loch
Hyponyms: estuary
fjord
strait
Derived terms: Gare Loch
Holy Loch
Loch Achray
Loch Ailort
Loch Alsh
Loch Assynt
Loch Awe
Lochawe
Loch Broom
Loch Carron
Lochcarron
Loch Creran
Loch Earn
Loch Eil
Lochend
Loch Etive
Loch Fleet
Loch Fyne
Loch Hourn
Loch Indaal
Loch Inver
Loch Katrine
Loch Leven
Loch Linnhe
Loch Lochy
Loch Lomond
Loch Long
Loch Ness
Loch Ness monster
Loch Ossian
Loch Ryan
Loch Shiel
lochside
Loch Tay
Loch Torridon
Loch Treig
sea loch
Related terms: word: lochan
word: lough