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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 of notch
Examples of notch in a Sentence
Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 3 Jan. 2026
Two nights later, the 25-year-old guard turned it up another notch, pouring in 21 points in 26 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-9 from deep.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2026
David Moin, Footwear News, 26 Dec. 2025
In 2025, the pair notched nine wins at MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025 and embarked on their first overseas tour with headlining shows in Asia, marking an even bigger year both at home and abroad.
—Billboard Japan, Billboard, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for notch
Cite this Entry
“Notch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/notch. Accessed 6 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
notch
1 of 2 nounnotch
2 of 2 verb
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