n. [ F. perche, L. pertica. ] 1. A pole; a long staff; a rod; esp., a pole or other support for fowls to roost on or to rest on; a roost; figuratively, any elevated resting place or seat. [ 1913 Webster ]

As chauntecleer among his wives all
Sat on his perche, that was in his hall. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not making his high place the lawless perch
Of winged ambitions. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (a) A measure of length containing five and a half yards; a rod, or pole. (b) In land or square measure: A square rod; the 160th part of an acre. (c) In solid measure: A mass 161/2 feet long, 1 foot in height, and 11/2 feet in breadth, or 243/4 cubic feet (in local use, from 22 to 25 cubic feet); -- used in measuring stonework. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A pole connecting the fore gear and hind gear of a spring carriage; a reach. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Perched p. pr. & vb. n. Perching. ] [ F. percher. See Perch a pole. ] To alight or settle, as a bird; to sit or roost. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To place or to set on, or as on, a perch. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To occupy as a perch. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also pearch. ] [ OE. perche, F. perche, L. perca, fr. Gr. pe`rkh; cf. perkno`s dark-colored, Skr. p&rsdot_;çni spotted, speckled, and E. freckle. ] (Zool.) 1. Any fresh-water fish of the genus Perca and of several other allied genera of the family Percidæ, as the common American or yellow perch (Perca flavescens syn. Perca Americana), and the European perch (Perca fluviatilis). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any one of numerous species of spiny-finned fishes belonging to the Percidæ, Serranidæ, and related families, and resembling, more or less, the true perches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black perch. (a) The black bass. (b) The flasher. (c) The sea bass. --
Blue perch, the cunner. --
Gray perch, the fresh-water drum. --
Red perch, the rosefish. --
Red-bellied perch, the long-eared pondfish. --
Perch pest, a small crustacean, parasitic in the mouth of the perch. --
Silver perch, the yellowtail. --
Stone perch, or
Striped perch, the pope. --
White perch, the Roccus Americanus, or Morone Americanus, a small silvery serranoid market fish of the Atlantic coast. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ F. par by (L. per) + chance. See Par, and Chance. ] By chance; perhaps; peradventure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] A bird tied by the foot, to serve as decoy to other birds by its fluttering. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Perch, v. i. ] 1. One who, or that which, perches. J. Burroughs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of the Insessores. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ From Perch a pole. ] A Paris candle anciently used in England; also, a large wax candle formerly set upon the altar. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] One of a breed of draught horses originating in Perche, an old district of France; -- called also Percheron-Norman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A salt of perchloric acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. per- + chloric. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, the highest oxygen acid (HClO4), of chlorine; -- called also hyperchloric. [ 1913 Webster ]