Did you know?
Occasionally, you might hear a child ask for a "napple," as in "I would like a napple," mistaking the phrase "an apple" for "a napple." A similar error is believed to be behind notch, which may have resulted from a misdivision of "an otch." (Otch is a noun that is assumed to have existed in earlier English as a borrowing of Middle French oche, meaning "an incision made to keep a record.") Notch would not be alone in developing from such a mistake. The words newt and nickname were formed, respectively, from misdivisions of "an ewte" and "an ekename." Going in the other direction, umpire first appears in Middle English as oumpere, a mistaken rendering of "a noumpere."
Synonyms
Examples of notch in a Sentence
Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
The brand takes creating top notch products seriously, but with a unique twist.
—Mark Anderson, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Taking your hair color a few notches lighter now that there are sunny days ahead?
—Fiona Embleton, Glamour, 28 Mar. 2024
However, when chartering, the professional poker player and influencer Dan Bilzerian decided to take water stunts up a notch or two and wake-surf behind the yacht itself.
—Gemma Harris, Robb Report, 8 Mar. 2024
Do so by dropping the mower one notch, perhaps two.
—Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Mar. 2024
In this context, the depth of the notch is significant.
—Bhanu Chopra, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
The subtle option will give you a little complexion smoothing, eye whitening, and under-eye lighting, while the smoothing filter will kick all those things up a notch.
—Emily Price, PCMAG, 16 Mar. 2024
After being spotted by fans on a casual mall date the previous day, the pair stepped things up a notch for dinner at Singapore's Koma restaraunt.
—Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 9 Mar. 2024
Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 8 Apr. 2024
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also notched a respectable first quarter with a gain of 5.5 percent, which analysts took as a welcome sign that the current rally isn’t wholly dependent on Big Tech.
—Aaron Gregg, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
Runway notched accolades of its own with 2022’s Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once.
—Kylie Robison, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2024
Key Facts Shares of Disney rose about 1% Wednesday morning to above $120, notching their highest intraday price since Aug. 18, 2022.
—Derek Saul, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Unofficial results showed Biden dominating the Democratic field, though Marianne Williamson notched thousands of votes with a nearly invisible campaign in a sign of an undercurrent of discontent.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 19 Mar. 2024
Its Smith Street topped the 2021 list while its Gertrude Street notched the runner-up spot in 2022.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 19 Mar. 2024
Tyler Childers notched a headlining slot, alongside Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Eric Church, for the inaugural Country Calling Festival, taking place Oct. 4 and 5 in Ocean City, Maryland.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2024
Klay Thompson added 23 and Chris Paul notched a season-high 14 dimes off the bench as the Warriors (36-32) fully controlled the second half in a 137-116 victory.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'notch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Phrases Containing notch
Articles Related to notch
Podcast
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!
Dictionary Entries Near notch
Cite this Entry
“Notch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/notch. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
notch
1 of 2 nounnotch
2 of 2 verb
More from Merriam-Webster on notch
Nglish: Translation of notch for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of notch for Arabic Speakers
Share