ˈkachə(r), -ech- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English caccher, from cacchen to catch + -er
1. : one that catches: as
a. : the baseball or softball player stationed behind home plate to catch pitched balls and to defend the plate and the area around it
b. : a member of a flying-trapeze act who hanging head down from a trapeze catches the flier
c. or catcher arm : a movable metal arm on railway post-office cars used to pick up mail pouches from trackside cranes while the train is in motion
2.
a. : a worker in the tobacco, woodworking, or paper-goods industry who removes materials or products from the delivery end of conveyors or machines
b. : a laundry worker who removes flatwork from an ironing machine
c. : a basketry worker who keeps the splitting machine free of rattan, reeds, dust, and fiber particles
3. : a small boat accompanying a whaling boat and specifically intended for the pursuit and catching of sighted whales
4. : the element in a klystron that resonates to the beam of bunched electrons and then generates the oscillator output — compare buncher , bunching , rhumbatron