perch

/pərtʃ/

/pətʃ/

Other forms: perched; perches; perching

A perch is a temporary resting place. In the middle of climbing a tree, you might find a good perch on a high branch. Bet some birds will be perching there too.

Perch has many different meanings. A bird perch is a little stick it can balance on, and the armrest of the couch can offer you a perch during a party. It's also the name of a kind of fish with spiny fins. And it's also an old measurement of 16.5 feet.

Definitions of perch

1. noun

   an elevated place serving as a seat
   type of:

   place, seat

   a space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane)
2. noun

   support consisting of a branch or rod that serves as a resting place (especially for a bird)
   types:

   roost

   a perch on which domestic fowl rest or sleep

   type of:

   support

   any device that bears the weight of another thing
3. verb

   come to rest; settle
   synonyms: alight, light

   type of:

   land, set down

   reach or come to rest
4. verb

   sit, as on a branch
   “The birds perched high in the tree”

   synonyms: rest, roost

   type of:

   sit, sit down

   be seated
5. verb

   cause to perch or sit
   “She perched her hat on her head”

   type of:

   lay, place, pose, position, put, set

   put into a certain place or abstract location
6. noun

   any of numerous fishes of America and Europe
   type of:

   freshwater fish

   flesh of fish from fresh water used as food
7. noun

   spiny-finned freshwater food and game fishes
   types:

   Perca flavescens, yellow perch

   North American perch

   European perch, Perca fluviatilis

   a perch native to Europe

   pike perch, pike-perch

   any of several pike-like fishes of the perch family

   Percina tanasi, snail darter

   a small snail-eating perch of the Tennessee River

   Stizostedion vitreum, dory, jack salmon, walleye, walleyed pike

   pike-like freshwater perches

   type of:

   percoid, percoid fish, percoidean

   any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of the order Perciformes
8. noun

   any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of various families of the order Perciformes
   type of:

   percoid, percoid fish, percoidean

   any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of the order Perciformes
9. noun

   a linear measure of 16.5 feet
   synonyms: pole, rod

   type of:

   linear measure, linear unit

   a unit of measurement of length
10. noun

    a square rod of land
    synonyms: pole, rod

    type of:

    area unit, square measure

    a system of units used to measure areas