perch

1. (figuratively) A position that is secure and advantageous, especially one which is prominent or elevated.Examples: "Last year, Eighth Grade found poignancy and humor in its eponymous time period: that purgatorial perch between childhood and adulthood."; "[W]inning Wimbledon at just 19 years, earning her rightful place on the perch as world number one."figuratively

2. (figuratively) A position that is overly elevated or haughty.Examples: "You may thanke me, (Lady) / I haue taken you off your mellancholly pearch, / Boare you vpon my fiſt, and ſhew'd you game, / And let you flie at it: I pray the kiſſe me, […]"figuratively

3. (dated) A linear measure of 5+¹⁄₂ yards, equal to a rod, a pole or ¹⁄₄ chain; the related square measure.dated

4. (textiles) A frame used to examine cloth.

5. (theater) A platform for lights to be directed at the stage.

1. (intransitive) To rest on a perch (especially, of a bird); to roost.Examples: "The macaw perched on Jim's shoulder."intransitive

2. (intransitive) To sit upon the edge of something.Examples: "The platform was already crowded, but the newcomers threaded their way to the front amid a decorous murmur of welcome. Mr. Peeble shoved and exhorted and two end seats emerged upon which Enid and Malone perched themselves."intransitive

3. (intransitive) To stay in an elevated position.intransitive

4. (transitive) To place something on (or as if on) a perch.Examples: "The most obvious beneficiary of the visitors' superiority was Frank Lampard. By the end of the night he was perched 13th in the list of England's most prolific goalscorers, having leapfrogged Sir Geoff Hurst to score his 24th and 25th international goals. No other player has managed more than the Chelsea midfielder's 11 in World Cup qualification ties, with this a display to roll back the years."transitive

5. (transitive, intransitive, textiles) To inspect cloth using a perch.intransitivetransitive