• enPR: lăch, IPA: /lætʃ/

latch (latches, present participle latching; past and past participle latched)

1. To close or lock as if with a latch.
2. (transitive) To catch; lay hold of.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act 4, scene 3]:

     Where hearing should not latch them.

• German: verriegeln, einrasten, einklinken, sperren, zuschnappen, schließen, zuklinken

latch (plural latches)

1. A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.
   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 4

     The cleverly constructed latch which Clayton had made for the door had sprung as Kerchak passed out; nor could the apes find means of ingress through the heavily barred windows.

2. A flip-flop electronic circuit
3. (obsolete) A latching.
4. (obsolete) A crossbow.
5. (obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.
6. A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.
7. (database) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

• French: loquet
• German: Riegel, Falle, Klinke, Sperre, Verriegelung, Schnappverschluss, Schnappriegel, Anschlag, Verschluss, Verschlusshebel, Schnapper, Schnäpper, Rastklinke, Arretierung
• Italian: chiavistello, fermo
• Portuguese: tranca, trinco
• Russian: щеко́лда
• Spanish: cerrojo, pestillo

• German: Klinkenschalter, Auffangregister, Signalschalter
• Portuguese: flip-flop

• German: Armbrust

latch (latches, present participle latching; past and past participle latched)

1. (obsolete) To smear; to anoint.

latch (uncountable)

1. (automotive) Initialism of lower anchors and tethers for children