welch

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See also: Welch and welch'

English

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Etymology

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Alternative form of welsh, from Welsh.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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welch (plural welches)

  1. A person who defaults on an obligation, especially a small one.
    Synonym: welcher
    Hypernym: infringer
    Coordinate terms: moocher, pincher
    She's a welch. That watering-can isn't hers: I lent it to her three years ago.

Verb

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welch (third-person singular simple present welches, present participle welching, simple past and past participle welched)

  1. To fail to repay a small debt.
    Coordinate terms: mooch, pinch
    Hypernyms: impinge, infringe
  2. To fail to fulfill an obligation.

Derived terms

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Translations

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German

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Determiner

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welch

  1. (only preceding ein or an adjective, emphatic) what
    Welch ein Glück!How fortunate! (literally, “What a luck!”)
    • 1911, Erwin Rosen [pseudonym; Erwin Carlé], Der Deutsche Lausbub in Amerika [The German prankster in America], page 255:
      Welch' ein Esel Bruder Leichtfuß doch war—welch' ein unbeschreiblich törichter dickköpfiger Junge!
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 1956, Ernst Bloch, Das Prinzip Hoffnung, volume 3, Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, page 304:
      In der Tat, welch ein Weg, welch ein Vergessen und Aufhellen von dem unheimlichen eulenartigen Wesen, das ums Erechtheion geistert, bis zur Pallas Athene Homers.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

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  • Many speakers consider welch very formal or poetic and may use was für instead.

Synonyms

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Further reading

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  • welch ein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache