I. ˈkachˌ -e- verb
( caught ˈkȯt ; or now chiefly dialect catched ˈkecht also -a- ; caught or now chiefly dialect catched ; catching ; catches )
Etymology: Middle English cacchen to chase, catch, from Old North French cachier to hunt, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin captiare, alteration of Latin captare to chase, strive to seize, from captus, past participle of capere to take, seize — more at heave
transitive verb
1.
a. : to capture or seize especially after pursuit or attempts to capture
catch a thief
b. : trap , ensnare , entangle
catch fish in a net
caught in a tangle of confusion — F.V.W.Mason
c. : deceive
he could at times be caught by the second-rate — F.A.Swinnerton
d. : to discover unexpectedly or by surprise : find , detect
catches his wife out, or so he thinks — Howard M. Jones
catch a man in the act of stealing
e. : to check (oneself) suddenly especially in the act of speaking
he started to say the wrong thing but quickly caught himself
f. : to get in marriage especially after pursuit
there is nobody so likely to catch me at last as yourself — Fanny Burney
g. : to take or come on unprepared
the storm caught them before they reached shelter
h. : to become suddenly aware of : notice unexpectedly or suddenly
you can catch yourself entertaining habitually certain types of ideas — A.N.Whitehead
sometimes I would catch her looking at Dorothea — Lloyd Alexander
2. : to take hold of especially suddenly or forcibly : grasp:
a. : to clasp suddenly : seize
tentacles to catch and pass the food to the mouth — W.E.Swinton
the mother caught her child to her
b. : to affect especially as if by grasping suddenly — used of an affliction or an emotion
the disease caught the youth before he was twenty
sorrow caught the bereaved mother
fear caught the victim's throat
c. : snatch , intercept
catch a forward pass
catch a high fly to center field
an instrument to catch cosmic rays
d. : to avail oneself of (as an opportunity) : take
catch the first chance of a ride to town
e. : to obtain especially through active effort : get
catch a ride
f. of fire : to fasten upon : spread to
the flames caught the wooden shingles of the roof
g. : to get (as a coattail or a heel) suddenly and accidentally held, hooked, snagged, impeded, or entangled
catch her coat in a door
catch a foot on the top step and fall headlong
catch a sleeve on a projecting nail
3. : to be affected by:
a. : take , contract
catch the measles
catch pneumonia
catch trouble
b. : to become imbued with by sympathetic reaction
catch the enthusiasm of the group
catch the spirit of an occasion
c. : to take or get the impact of (as a blow) : be struck by
caught a piece of shrapnel in his right leg — Gilbert Millstein
the flag above the grandstand caught the last of the sun — Maurice Duggan
outside the breakwater the squadron caught the full sweep of a rising southeast wind — Joseph Millard
d. : to get or suffer from (as a punishment for misdoing)
catch a spanking
catch hell
4.
a. : to seize and hold ; especially : to take in and retain
a barrel to catch rain water
b. : to grip or hold against one's will ; especially : to make immovable or vulnerable by placing between equally undesirable alternatives
the branches caught the deer's antlers
a ship caught between fire from shore batteries and sea attack
c. : to cause to be seized and held : fasten
catch down a loose edge of a dress
catch back a curtain
5. : to take or get usually momentarily, quickly, or for a brief intervening period
catch a glimpse of a friend
catch a nap
catching a cup of coffee between trains
6.
a. obsolete : gain , attain
torment myself to catch the English crown — Shakespeare
b. : to come up with : overtake
catch the man before he had a chance to go a mile
c. : to meet and get aboard (as a train or plane) : get to in time
catch a plane
catch the last bus home
d. : to be in time for
catch an early show with minutes to spare
7. : to attract and hold : arrest
the idea of cooperation did not catch general attention — W.C.Allee
one of the guests who caught his fancy — Abram Kardiner
8.
a. : strike
his fist shot out and caught the small man directly on the mouth — Sherwood Anderson
b. : to make contact with
a searchlight … caught and held them in its glare — Nevil Shute
her high notes catch the microphone — Edward Sackville-West & Desmond Shawe-Taylor
9.
a. : to grasp or apprehend with the senses or the mind
his ears open to catch all the night noises — W.F.Davis
from their pages we catch something of the philosophy of the men and women — C.R.Woodward
b. : to apprehend and fix by artistic means
catch a person's likeness
the writer catches the atmosphere of the 17th century court
10.
a. : to catch out in cricket
b. : to serve as catcher for in baseball
caught both ends of the doubleheader
caught the lefthander
11. : to deal with in some fitting fashion (as by picking, tapping, or slaughtering)
the cowslips are good caught early — Meridel Le Sueur
the pig had been caught early before it lost flesh — Pearl Buck
they caught the maple trees too early in the season
12. : to see or listen to (as a play or sports event)
catch the first part of the evening's performance
intransitive verb
1. of fire : to take hold
the flame caught in the chimney
2. : to grasp by a hasty motion or make a hasty motion to grasp or as if to grasp — used with at
catch at someone's coat as he passes
catch at the first opportunity that comes up
3.
a. : to become held or impeded especially by entanglement or an obstruction
the kite caught in the tree branches
the boy's foot caught on the edge of the step
b. of the breath : to become involuntarily drawn in in a quick gasp
make your breath catch with suspense — Bernard De Voto
4. : to take and retain hold
the hook does not catch
5. of a sail or sailing boat : to catch the wind
6.
a. : to catch fire
b. of a gasoline engine : to begin to function by the regular igniting and exploding of gasoline vapor in the cylinders
7. dialect , of water : to freeze slightly — usually used with over
8. of a domestic mammal : conceive
9. of a plant : to sprout and become established
the clover caught well at the first sowing
10. : to play the position of catcher on a baseball team
11. slang : to catch on (sense 2)
12. : to begin to burn and stick to the pan
the water boiled away and the potatoes caught
Synonyms:
capture , trap , entrap , snare , ensnare , bag : all these words indicate taking or seizing and their ramifications. They are likely to connote the hunter's craft or strength in taking or seizing. catch is a general term and in its first senses may often substitute for any of the other words on this list
the hunters caught the fox
the police caught the killer
it may have seemed to Augustus an easy way of filling his treasury and it caught the imagination of the Roman poets — John Buchan
capture is narrower in range than catch in often implying somewhat greater magnitude or importance of the thing caught, longer duration of the capture, and less necessary constriction or confinement during that period
he captured 27 prizes in the Comet — R.G.Albion
the business of the major parties is to capture control of the government — H.S.Commager
no artist can set out to capture charm — A.C.Benson
trap suggests craft or guile on the pursuer's part or unwariness on the quarry's. It stresses the existence of an adverse situation from which escape is unlikely, but may leave open the possibility, while capture indicates finality of seizure
trap wild animals
the Texans trapped in the Alamo
his reliance on feeling … frequently trapped him into absurdities — F.B.Millett
The verb snare differs from the verb trap as the noun snare from the noun trap. snare may suggest entanglement as in a net in contrast to the clamping stricture of trap
folks who are still snared in the toils of mortal compulsions — R.P.Warren
ensnare and entrap are interchangeable with snare and trap most of the time but may occasionally suggest greater subtlety of contrivance and more entanglement and complexity in the victim's situation
as if he would clear away some entanglement which had entrapped his thought — Louis Bromfield
sympathetic to the regime that ensnared them in its monstrous net — Saturday Review
bag implies what is implicit in a hunter's putting game in his bag, that is, unquestioned success in seizing a difficult quarry by a hunter's arts
Victor Weybright, of the American branch, bagged the British rights to John Hershey's Hiroshima while other English publishers were asleep — Bennett Cerf
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- catch a crab
- catch fire
- catch it
- catch one's breath
- catch the wind
II. noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English cacche, from cacchen, v.
1. : something that is caught ; especially : the total quantity caught at one time
the catch of valuable native fur — F.S.Cohen
a good catch of fish
2. : the act, action, or fact of catching:
a. : the act of catching fish
b. : a momentary audible impeding (as of the breath or voice)
a sudden catch in the speaker's voice
c. : the act of catching the ball especially before it touches the ground
a good running catch
d. : a game for two or more people in which a ball is thrown and caught
e. : the initial force and application of an oar or a swimmer's hand to the water
3.
a. : something that checks or holds immovable
b. : a device (as a rod, bar, or hook) for temporarily holding immovable an otherwise moving or movable part or mechanism: as
(1) : a latch especially on a door, window, or trunk
(2) : the fastening mechanism on a brooch, decorative pin, or belt
4. : one that is worth catching or acquiring
another important catch of the patrol was a submarine
especially : one particularly desirable as a husband or wife
he was an excellent catch
5. : a round for three or more unaccompanied voices written out as one continuous melody with each succeeding singer taking up a part in turn ; specifically : a ludicrous or coarse round
6. : fragment , snatch
young men … sing catches of a traditional Genoese melody as they mend their sails — J.V.Taberner
7. : an unsuspected or trickily concealed consideration or difficulty designed especially to take advantage of the unwary
there must be a catch in it somewhere
8. : the germination of a field crop especially to such an extent that replanting is unnecessary — compare stand II 12
9. : glottal stop
III. adjective
Etymology: catch (I)
: catchy
a catch question
IV. transitive verb
: to meet with
I might catch them in the evenings at a local motel — Bryan Di Salvatore
— often used as an informal farewell at parting
catch you later
intransitive verb
: to kick over
the engine finally caught