/kach"twen'tee tooh"/ , n. , pl. Catch-22's, Catch-22s .
1. a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory regulations or conditions.
2. any illogical or paradoxical problem or situation; dilemma.
3. a condition, regulation, etc., preventing the resolution of a problem or situation; catch.
[ from a military regulation in a novel of the same name (1961) by U.S. novelist Joseph Heller (born 1923) ]