perch
perch1 / pərch/ • n. a thing on which a bird alights or roosts, typically a branch or a horizontal rod or bar in a birdcage. ∎ a place where someone or something rests or sits, esp. a place that is high or precarious: Marian looked down from her perch in a beech tree above the road.• v. [intr.] (of a bird) alight or rest on something: a herring gull perched on the mast. ∎ (of a person) sit somewhere, esp. on something high or narrow: Eve perched on the side of the armchair. ∎ (be perched) (of a building) be situated above or on the edge of something: the fortress is perched on a crag in the mountains. ∎ [tr.] (perch someone/something on) set or balance someone or something on (something): Peter perched a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles on his nose.PHRASES: knock someone off their perch inf. cause someone to lose a position of superiority or preeminence: will this knock London off its perch as Europe's leading financial center?perch2 • n. (pl. same or perches ) an edible freshwater fish (genus Perca) with a high spiny dorsal fin, dark vertical bars on the body, and orange lower fins. Its three species include the yellow perch (P. flavescens) of North America. The perch family also includes the pikeperches, ruffe, and darters. ∎ used in names of other freshwater and marine fishes resembling or related to this, e.g., climbing perch.perch3 • n. chiefly Brit., hist. a linear or square rod; see rod, sense 3.