welch

[welch, welsh] /wɛltʃ, wɛlʃ/
verb (used without object), Informal.
1.
welsh.
Related forms
welcher, noun
Can be confused
welch, Welsh.

Welch

[welch, welsh] /wɛltʃ, wɛlʃ/
adjective, noun
1.
Welsh.

Welch

[welch, welsh] /wɛltʃ, wɛlʃ/
noun
1.
James, born 1940, U.S. poet and novelist.
2.
Joseph Nye, 1890–1960, U.S. trial lawyer.
3.
Robert, Jr. 1899–1985, U.S. candy manufacturer: founder of the John Birch Society 1958.
4.
William Henry, 1850–1934, U.S. medical pathologist and educator.
British Dictionary definitions for welch

welch

/wɛlʃ/
verb
1.
a variant spelling of welsh
Derived Forms
welcher, noun

Welch

/wɛlʃ/
adjective
1.
an archaic spelling of Welsh1

welsh

/wɛlʃ/
verb (slang) (intransitive) often foll by on
1.
to fail to pay a gambling debt
2.
to fail to fulfil an obligation
Derived Forms
welsher, welcher, noun
Word Origin
C19: of unknown origin
Word Origin and History for welch
v.

1857, racing slang, "to refuse or avoid payment of money laid as a bet," probably a disparaging use of the national name Welsh. Related: Welched; welching.

welch in Medicine

Welch (wělch, wělsh), William Henry. 1850-1934.

American pathologist and bacteriologist who discovered the bacteria that causes gas gangrene.

Slang definitions & phrases for welch

welsh

noun

: Link can't take a welsh, so he looks around for a way to get his dough

verb

To default on or evade an obligation, esp paying a gambling debt: Say, are you going to welsh on me?/ Some American officials feel that the Syrians welshed on their promise (1857+)

[apparently fr the same bigoted stereotype of the Welsh reflected in the English nursery rhyme ''Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief,'' although perhaps a borrowing of German Welsch, ''foreigner'']