Noun There was a slight arch to her eyebrows. an arch in the cat's back Verb The cat arched its back. She arched her eyebrows in surprise. A tree arches over the road. She arched backward to begin the exercise. Adjective a politician known for his arch humor The novel is never mocking or arch in its tone. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The cave under the 25-foot-high sandstone arch at Natural Bridge State Park in North Freedom is known as a rock shelter, and evidence of it being used by humans dates back 11,000 years. Chelsey Lewis, Journal Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2022 Its rainbow-arch profile and short-nosed proportions don't lend themselves to the usual wide-haunched and snarling shape of an AMG machine. Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 14 July 2022 The airplane hangar-style arched roof remains intact with double-arch steel beams creating an architectural ceiling. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 15 Mar. 2022 Riders will pass 19th-century bridges and stone-arch culverts, as well as the Delaware River and Carnegie Lake, and have the option of trail-town pit stops throughout. Stephanie Vermillion, Outside Online, 11 Mar. 2022 The 2022 redesign of the WRX sport-compact sedan can be distinguished from the previous generation by its bulging fenders and hexagonally shaped wheel-arch cladding. Dan Neil, WSJ, 13 Jan. 2022 The shorts continue the pinstripe theme from those uniforms blended in with the double-arch design and Rockets logo which the team wore during its 22-game win streak in the 2007-08 season. Matt Young, Chron, 1 Nov. 2021 Bruceville lost its commercial importance once the stone-arch bridge was replaced in 1939 and a new road, now the Francis Scott Key Highway, bypassed the village. Mary Ann Ashcraft, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 Aug. 2021 Built in 2010 to celebrate some of Iowa’s most significant historical figures, this single-arch overpass offers a gorgeous view of the Des Moines skyline to passing pedestrians. Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 24 June 2021
Verb
How well does the shoe shape (including the toe box and arch support) map onto your foot? Hannah Dylan Pasternak, SELF, 18 Aug. 2022 Its high price and arch-conservative styling pit it against big, old people's sedans, like the Buick Roadmaster, but inside there's less hip and shoulder room than in a Chevy Lumina. Phil Berg, Car and Driver, 15 July 2022 The original hut has an unusual design feature that enables the ceiling to arch from a height of 8 feet at the outer walls to 14 feet at the apex. Sophy Chaffee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Aug. 2022 This perennial, also called heuchera, has frothy little flowers that arch over mounded foliage in early summer. Terri Robertson, Country Living, 1 Aug. 2022 The Second Wife is allowed to be selfish, to go shopping, to paint her lips red and arch her brows and want things that don’t necessarily benefit anybody but her, and to be honest, that’s sounding more appealing by the minute. Emma Specter, Vogue, 21 July 2022 Dragons arch over the entryway to the grounds where Danny Kim grapples with an oversize banner for Fresno Cambodian Nights.Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2022 Behind me the swells arch their backs and hiss, whitecaps forming on the crests.Outside Online, 18 June 2021 If your back begins to arch at any point, decrease the range of motion or do the exercise with your knees bent to 90 degrees. Hayden Carpenter, Outside Online, 20 May 2021
Adjective
The foot has length, width, instep girth, arch height, and metatarsal toe bar measurements, to cite just a few. Greg Tunney, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2022 Paint an arch accent wall to create a sense of depth and architectural character. Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Aug. 2022 For Deux Chats, a new restaurant opening this week in Williamsburg, that form was a white exalted arch ceiling—a New York City rarity, especially in a neighborhood known for its abundance of factory and loft-style buildings. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 28 July 2022 And the turbulence of the Reformation gets a lot of arch nods, which are all the funnier in the slangy phrasing of queens who are essentially preening Billboard goddesses. Celia Wren, Washington Post, 15 July 2022 In this case, that means multi-hundred-foot, multi-hundred-million-dollar superyachts, the world of which Evan Osnos excavates over (exactly) 10,000 deliciously arch words.Longreads, 14 July 2022 Each shoe is designed with an advanced footbed and arch support, like these flip-flops, which are on sale for just $30 right now. Claire Harmeyer, PEOPLE.com, 13 July 2022 In modern vertebrates, the cartilage doesn't form from cells that start in the arch structure. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 7 July 2022 Bailey and followers of his brand of arch-conservatism have long chafed under the more moderate Republicans who controlled the party organization for decades. Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English arche, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *arca, from Latin arcus — more at arrow
Middle English arche-, arch-, from Old English & Anglo-French; Old English arce-, from Late Latin arch- & Latin archi-; Anglo-French arch-, from Late Latin arch- & Latin archi-, from Greek arch-, archi-, from archein to begin, rule; akin to Greek archē beginning, rule, archos ruler
Noun combining form
Middle English -arche, from Anglo-French & Late Latin & Latin; Anglo-French -arche, from Late Latin -archa, from Latin -arches, -archus, from Greek -archēs, -archos, from archein