Obs. exc. dial. [Of obscure origin: cf. LEECH sb.3 and sb.4]
1. A handful (of reeds, etc.); a bundle (of cords, yarn, etc.). In mod. use, ‘a tangled mass’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
1538. Elyot, Dict., Thomices, lyches of hempe wherwith halters are made.
1552. Huloet, Liches or linckes of cordes, halters, or ropes, thomices.
1609. C. Butler, Fem. Mon. (1634), 39. Being thus prepared, take out of that wet bundle a litch of 40 or 50 reeds or straws.
2. (See quot.) [Perh. a different word.]
1851. H. Newland, Erne, 59. The Captain who had been baiting a formidable litch with a good sized par. Footnote, Litch,… An arrangement of hooks and swivels calculated to give the appearance of life to a dead bait.
