different between retch vs letch

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?/
• Rhymes: -?t?
• Homophone: wretch

Etymology 1

From Middle English *recchen, *rechen (attested in arechen), hræcen, from Old English hr??an (“to clear the throat, hawk, spit”), from Proto-West Germanic *hr?kijan, from Proto-Germanic *hr?kijan? (“to clear one's throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *kreg- (“to caw, crow”). Cognate with Icelandic hrækja (“to hawk, spit”), Limburgish räöke (“to induce vomiting”). Also related with German Rachen (“throat”).

Alternative forms

• reach (archaic or dialectal)

Verb

retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched)

1. To make an unsuccessful effort to vomit; to strain, as in vomiting.
   • 1819-1824, Lord Byron, Don Juan

     Here he grew inarticulate with retching.

Translations

Noun

retch (plural retches)

1. An unsuccessful effort to vomit.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English recchen (“to care; heed”), from Old English r???an, variant of r??an (“to care; reck”), from Proto-Germanic *r?kijan? (“to care”), from Proto-Indo-European *re?- (“straight, right, just”).

Verb

retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched)

1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To reck

Related terms

• retchless

Etymology 3

From Middle English recchen, from Old English re??an (“to stretch, extend”), from Proto-West Germanic *rakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *rakjan? (“to straighten, stretch”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?ro?éyeti.

Verb

retch (third-person singular simple present retches, present participle retching, simple past and past participle retched or (obsolete) raught)

1. (dialectal) to reach

Anagrams

• chert

English

Alternative forms

• lech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?t??/

Etymology 1

See lech, lecher.

Noun

letch (plural letches)

1. (archaic) Strong desire; passion.
   • 1830, Thomas De Quincey, Life of Richard Bentley (review)

     Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the wrongs of others.

2. (informal) A lecher.

Etymology 2

From Middle English leche, for example Sandy's Letch located east of Annitsford in Northumberland.

Noun

letch (plural letches)

1. A stream or pool in boggy land.

Etymology 3

Noun

letch (plural letches)

1. Alternative form of leach

Verb

letch (third-person singular simple present letches, present participle letching, simple past and past participle letched)

1. Alternative form of leach

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English leche (“an infusion”).

Noun

letch

1. small beer

References

• J. Poole W. Barnes, A Glossary, with Some Pieces of Verse, of the Old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy (1867)