notch

/nɑtʃ/

/nɒtʃ/

Other forms: notched; notches; notching

A notch is a small cut or nick in something. People make notches to keep track of things.

If you've even seen a little U-shaped or V-shaped cut in something, you've seen a notch. In prison, criminals will make notches on the wall to keep track of how long they've been there. If you're stranded on a desert island, you might make notches on a tree. When you make a notch, you're notching. A notch is also part of a mountain range that is lower than the peaks around it — also called a mountain pass.

Definitions of notch

1. noun

   a small cut
   synonyms: nick, snick

   type of:

   cut, cutting

   the act of penetrating or opening open with a sharp edge
2. noun

   a V-shaped indentation
   “mandibular notch”

   types:

   incisura, incisure

   (anatomy) a notch or small hollow

   mandibular notch

   small indentation in the middle of the lower jawbone

   type of:

   indentation, indenture

   a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)
3. noun

   a V-shaped or U-shaped indentation carved or scratched into a surface
   “there were four notches in the handle of his revolver”

   types:

   serration

   a single notch in a row of notches

   thumb index

   one of a series of rounded notches in the fore edge of a book to indicate sections

   undercut

   a notch cut in the trunk of tree in order to determine the direction of its fall

   sawtooth

   a serration on a saw blade

   type of:

   indentation, indenture

   a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)
4. noun

   the location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks
   synonyms: mountain pass, pass

   examples:

   Brenner Pass

   an Alpine mountain pass connecting Innsbruck in Austria with Bolzano in Italy that has long been a route for trade and for invasions

   Cumberland Gap

   a pass through the Cumberland Mountains between Virginia and Kentucky that early settlers used in order to move west

   Donner Pass

   a mountain pass in northeastern California near Lake Tahoe; site where in 1844 some members of an emigrant party survived by eating those who had died

   Khyber Pass

   a mountain pass of great strategic and commercial value in the Hindu Kush on the border between northern Pakistan and western Afghanistan; a route by which invaders entered India

   types:

   col, gap

   a pass between mountain peaks

   defile, gorge

   a narrow pass (especially one between mountains)

   saddle, saddleback

   a pass or ridge that slopes gently between two peaks (is shaped like a saddle)

   water gap

   a pass in a mountain ridge through which a stream flows

   wind gap

   a pass in a mountain ridge with no stream flowing through it

   type of:

   location

   a point or extent in space
5. verb

   cut or make a notch into
   “notch the rope”

   types:

   mark, nock, score

   make small marks into the surface of

   indent

   notch the edge of or make jagged

   scarify

   scratch the surface of

   scotch

   make a small cut or score into

   scribe

   score a line on with a pointed instrument, as in metalworking

   line

   mark with lines

   recess

   make a recess in

   type of:

   incise

   make an incision into by carving or cutting
6. verb

   notch a surface to record something
   type of:

   enter, put down, record

   make a record of; set down in permanent form