Meaning

noun an unsteady uneven gait

noun a decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage)

noun abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance)

originFrom Middle English *lurche (implied in derivative lurching), from Old French lourche (“deceived, embarrassed; also the name of a game”), from Proto-West Germanic *lort (“left; left-handed; crooked; bent; warped; underhanded; deceitful; limping”). Cognate to English lirt.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0