/ kætʃ; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
( caught , caught / kɔːt; NAmE /)
HOLD
1.
[ vn ] to stop and hold a moving object, especially in your hands :
She managed to catch the keys as they fell.
'Throw me over that towel, will you?' 'OK. Catch!'
The dog caught the stick in its mouth.
2.
[ vn ] to hold a liquid when it falls :
The roof was leaking and I had to use a bucket to catch the drips.
3.
[ vn , usually + adv. / prep. ] to take hold of sb/sth :
He caught hold of her arm as she tried to push past him.
CAPTURE
4.
[ vn ] to capture a person or an animal that tries or would try to escape :
The murderer was never caught.
Our cat is hopeless at catching mice.
How many fish did you catch?
SB DOING STH
5.
to find or discover sb doing sth, especially sth wrong :
[ vn -ing ]
I caught her smoking in the bathroom.
You wouldn't catch me working (= I would never work) on a Sunday!
She caught herself wondering whether she had made a mistake.
[ vn + adv. / prep. ]
He was caught with bomb-making equipment in his home.
Mark walked in and caught them at it (= in the act of doing sth wrong) .
thieves caught in the act
You've caught me at a bad time (= at a time when I am busy) .
BE IN TIME
6.
[ vn ] to be in time to do sth, talk to sb, etc. :
I caught him just as he was leaving the building.
I was hoping to catch you at home (= to telephone you at home when you were there) .
The illness can be treated provided it's caught (= discovered) early enough.
( BrE )
to catch the post (= post letters before the box is emptied)
( BrE , informal )
Bye for now! I'll catch you later (= speak to you again later) .
BUS / TRAIN / PLANE
7.
[ vn ] to be in time for a bus, train, plane, etc. and get on it :
We caught the 12.15 from Oxford.
I must go—I have a train to catch.
HAPPEN UNEXPECTEDLY
8.
[ vn ] to happen unexpectedly and put sb in a difficult situation :
His arrival caught me by surprise .
She got caught in a thunderstorm.
SEE / HEAR
9.
[ vn ] ( informal , especially NAmE ) to see or hear sth; to attend sth :
Let's eat now and maybe we could catch a movie later.
➡ note at see
ILLNESS
10.
[ vn ] to get an illness :
to catch measles
I think I must have caught this cold from you.
BECOME STUCK
11.
catch (sth) (in / on sth) to become stuck in or on sth; to make sth become stuck :
[ v ]
Her dress caught on a nail.
[ vn ]
He caught his thumb in the door.
HIT
12.
[+ adv. / prep. ] to hit sb/sth :
[ vn ]
The stone caught him on the side of the head.
[ vnn ]
She caught him a blow on the chin.
NOTICE
13.
[ vn ] to notice sth only for a moment :
She caught sight of a car in the distance.
He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
I caught a look of surprise on her face.
He caught a whiff of her perfume.
HEAR / UNDERSTAND
14.
[ vn ] to hear or understand sth :
Sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said.
INTEREST
15.
[ vn ] catch sb's interest, imagination, attention, etc. if sth catches your interest, etc., you notice it and feel interested in it
SHOW ACCURATELY
16.
[ vn ] to show or describe sth accurately
SYN capture :
The artist has caught her smile perfectly.
LIGHT
17.
[ vn ] if sth catches the light or the light catches it, the light shines on it and makes it shine too :
The knife gleamed as it caught the light .
THE SUN
18.
[ vn ] ( informal ) if you catch the sun , you become red or brown because of spending time in the sun
BURN
19.
to begin to burn :
[ vn ]
The wooden rafters caught fire .
[ v ]
These logs are wet: they won't catch.
IN CRICKET
20.
[ vn ] to make a player unable to continue batting by catching the ball they have hit before it touches the ground
•
IDIOMS
- catch your breath
- catch your death (of cold)
- catch sb's eye
- catch it
- catch sb napping
- catch sb on the hop
- catch sb red-handed
- catch sb with their pants down
—more at balance noun , cleft adjective , fancy noun , raw noun , rock noun , short adjective
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- catch at sth
- catch on
- catch on (to sth)
- catch sb out
- catch up on sth
- be / get caught up in sth
- catch up (with sb)
- catch up with sb
■ noun
OF BALL
1.
[ C ] an act of catching sth, for example a ball :
to make a catch
AMOUNT CAUGHT
2.
[ C ] the total amount of things that are caught :
a huge catch of fish
FASTENING
3.
[ C ] a device used for fastening sth :
a catch on the door
safety catches for the windows
DIFFICULTY
4.
[ C , usually sing. ] a hidden difficulty or disadvantage :
All that money for two hours' work—what's the catch?
CHILD'S GAME
5.
[ U ] a child's game in which two people throw a ball to each other
PERSON
6.
[ sing. ] ( old-fashioned ) a person that other people see as a good person to marry, employ, etc.
•
IDIOMS
- (a) catch-22 | a catch-22 situation
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (also in the sense chase ): from Anglo-Norman French and Old Northern French cachier , variant of Old French chacier , based on Latin captare try to catch, from capere take.