loch

plural lochs

1. IrelandScotlandA lake.

   But, enchanting as are the woodland banks of the quiet stream, there is to me a higher and yet more powerful charm in the solitary wildness or savage grandeur of the Highland loch.

   1840, John Colquhoun, “Loch-fishing”, in The Moor and the Loch: […], Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons; London: T[homas] Cadell, →OCLC, page 56

   4 more examples

   The greater part of Leuchars Loch belonged to the Inneses of Leuchars, Cotts to the Inneses of Innes; and while thus poſſeſſed, many unſucceſsful attempts to drain both, by canals, to the river Loſſie, ſeem to have been made. […] [A] very ordinary fall of rain raiſes it [the river] far beyond its natural bounds; and the immediate conſequence of ſuch floods, was, the ſpeat-water flowing into thoſe lochs, by the canal, and covering the adjacent meadows.

   1802 November 1, “Account of the Drainage of the Lochs at Leuchars and Cotts, in the County of Moray”, in The Farmer’s Magazine: A Periodical Work, Exclusively Devoted to Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, volume III, number XII, Edinburgh: Printed by D. Willison, for Archibald Constable, [...], →OCLC, pages 453–454

   This book may possibly fall into the hands of tourists in the Highlands; and if it should induce any one to visit the Isles of Loch Awe, a few words on my part may save him a good deal of trouble. The inns are so badly situated that no visitors but sportsmen and painters ever think of staying long at Loch Awe. The hotel at Dalmally is an old inconvenient house, three miles from the loch, and wants rebuilding. The inn at Cladich is a mile from the loch, and the footpath in wet weather is almost impassable.

   1855, Philip Gilbert Hamerton, “Notes [on the poem The Isles of Loch Awe]”, in The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of My Youth, London: W. E. Painter, […], →OCLC, page 91

   Mr. [James M.] Gale's scheme for doubling the [water] supply was carried through both Houses of Parliament, and was at once put into construction. It especially included the raising of the boundaries of the loch, and it brought into assistance and use other lochs in the Loch Katrine area; and Glasgow and its suburbs are now supplied with water as no other community in the kingdom is supplied.

   1903 September 11, “The Late Mr. James M. Gale”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume LXXVI, London: Offices for advertisements and publication—35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 351, column 2

   […] Marmaduke Wetherell was hired by the Daily Mail newspaper to lead a search for the lair of the Loch Ness Monster. […] To everyone's surprise, within a few days of the start of his search, Wetherell came across a huge, four-toed footprint along the shoreline of the loch. This was just the sort of sensational story the newspaper was hoping for.

   2010 January, Rick Emmer, “Into the Limelight”, in Loch Ness Monster: Fact or Fiction? (Creature Science Investigation), New York, N.Y.: Chelsea House Publishers, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 28

   Synonyms: lake

2. IrelandScotlandA bay or arm of the sea.

   Little Loch Broom is a NW trending sea loch situated approximately 10 km west of Ullapool[…]. The flanks of the loch are characterized by rugged headlands backed by mountains such as An Teallach to the south and Beinn Ghobhlach to the north.

   2010, Martyn S. Stoker, Charles R. Wilson, John A. Howe, Tom Bradwell, David Long, “Paraglacial Slope Instability in Scottish Fjords: Examples from Little Loch Broom, NW Scotland”, in J[ohn] A. Howe, W. E. N. Austin, M. Forwick, M. Paetzel, editors, Fjord Systems and Archives (Geological Society Special Publication; no. 344), London: Published by The Geological Society, →ISBN, page 227, column 1

   1 more example

   It is well known, for instance, that the superiority of the herrings caught in the inland sea-lochs of Scotland is owing to the fish finding there a better feeding-ground than in the large and exposed open bays. Look, for instance, at Lochfyne: the land runs down to the water's edge, and the surface water or drainage carries with it rich food to fatten the loch, and put flesh on the herring; and what fish is finer, I would ask, than a Lochfyne herring?

   1865, James G[lass] Bertram, “Fish Life and Growth”, in The Harvest of the Sea: A Contribution to the Natural and Economic History of the British Food Fishes, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 28

   Synonyms: bay, firth, sea loch

plural lochs

1. alternativeAlternative form of lohoch (“medicine taken by licking”).

   Uncle James had caught a cold too, so I went with Grissel; and found a chemist who'd been in France, and knew what a loch was and made one for me; […]

   1897, George du Maurier, “Part Seventh”, in The Martian: […] (Bell’s Indian and Colonial Library), London; Bombay: George Bell and Sons, →OCLC, page 324

   2 more examples

   We may obtain, then, a just idea of the constitution of this liquid [milk], if we look upon it as a soft, liquid substance, a kind of loch,^* in which caseine, sugar, &c., are dissolved, and in which the fatty or oily substance is distributed in small, rounded atoms. [Footnote *: Loch, or lohoch, is an Arabian name for a medicine of a consistence between an electuary and a sirup, and usually taken by licking.[…]]

   1859, Al[fred François] Donné, “Of Professional Nurses”, in Mothers and Infants, Nurses and Nursing. […], Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, →OCLC, page 67

   [Rembert] Dodoens specifically recommends the preparation of a lohoch or loch – a 'licking medicine', of middle consistency, between a soft electuary and a syrup – for relief of obstruction, shortness of breath and an old, hard cough.

   2011, Graeme Tobyn, Alison Denham, Margaret Whitelegge, “Hyssopus officinalis, Hyssop”, in The Western Herbal Tradition: 2000 Years of Medicinal Plant Knowledge, Edinburgh; London: Churchill Livingstone, →ISBN, page 195, column 2

plural Lochs

1. A surname.
2. A town in Bass Coast Shire and South Gippsland Shire, southern Victoria, Australia.