- a small metal bar that is used to fasten a door or a gate. You raise it to open the door and drop it to fasten it.
- He lifted the latch and opened the door.
Extra Examples- She lifted the latch and went into the garden.
- I tried the latch, but the door wouldn't open.
- (especially British English) a type of lock on a door that needs a key to open it from the outside
- She listened for his key in the latch.
Word OriginOld English læccan ‘take hold of, grasp (physically or mentally)’, of Germanic origin.
Idioms
See latch in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryon the latch
- (British English) closed but not locked
- Can you leave the door on the latch so I can get in?
Check pronunciation:
latch