Definition of "catch"

catch

/kæt͡ʃ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural catches
1. (countable) The act of seizing or capturing.
2. (countable) The act of catching an object in motion, especially a ball.
3. (countable) The act of noticing, understanding or hearing.
  Quotations
  "In that case," said Jeff, "I just thought of something else we need." He walked over to one of the stations that was selling household goods and bought a can opener."Nice catch," said Lucy.
  2008, John I. Carney, Soapstone, page 74
4. (uncountable) The game of catching a ball.
5. (countable) Something which is captured or caught.
6. (countable, colloquial, by extension) A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse.
  Quotations
  "Aaaugh! Just once, I wish I could be considered a catch by men younger than fifty..."
  2014 July 10, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 561 - A Catch
7. (countable) A stopping mechanism, especially a clasp which stops something from opening.
8. (countable) A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion.
9. (countable, sometimes noun adjunct) A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation.
10. (countable) A crick; a sudden muscle pain during unaccustomed positioning when the muscle is in use.
11. (countable) A fragment of music or poetry.
  Quotations
  In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
  1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion‎, page 266
  "'Fair Enslaver!'" cried Mr. Enderby. "You must know 'Fair Enslaver:' there is not a sweeter catch than that. Come, Miss Ibbotson, begin; your sister will follow, and I—"But it so happened that Miss Ibbotson had never heard 'Fair Enslaver.'
  1872, Harriet Martineau, Deerbrook, page 90
12. (obsolete) A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush.
  Quotations
  You lie at the catch again: this is not for edification.
  1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, Part I Section 3
  The common and the canon law […] lie at catch, and wait advantages one against another.The spelling has been modernized.
  1655, Thomas Fuller, edited by James Nichols, The Church History of Britain, […], new edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837
13. (countable, agriculture) A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.
  Quotations
  There was a good catch of rye and a good fall growth.
  1905, Eighth Biennial Report of the Board of Horticulture of the State of Oregon‎, page 204
14. (obsolete) A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch.
  Quotations
  Fourteene miles Northward from the river Powhatan, is the river Pamaunke, which is navigable 60 or 70 myles, but with Catches and small Barkes 30 or 40 myles farther.
  1612, John Smith, Map of Virginia, Kupperman, published 1988, page 158
15. (countable, music) A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics.
  Quotations
  Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch / You taught me but while-ere?
  1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene ii]
  One night, I remember, we sang a catch, written (words and music) by Orlo Williams, for three voices.
  1966, Allen Tate, T. S. Eliot: The Man and His Work‎, page 76
16. (countable, music) The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse.
  Quotations
  The phrase repeated itself like the catch of a song.
  2003, Robert Hugh Benson, Come Rack! Come Rope!‎, page 268
17. (countable, cricket, baseball) The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out.
  Quotations
  It was he who removed Peter Bowler with the help of a good catch at third slip.
  1997 May 10, Henry Blofeld, “Cricket: Rose and Burns revive Somerset”, in The Independent‎
18. (countable, cricket) A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well.
  Quotations
  […] in the field he is all activity, covers an immense amount of ground, and is a sure catch.
  1894 September 16, “To Meet Lord Hawke's Team”, in The New York Times‎, page 21
19. (countable, rowing) The first contact of an oar with the water.
  Quotations
  They are sitting up straighter, breaking their arms at the catch and getting on a terrific amount of power at the catch with each stroke.
  1935 June 7, Robert F. Kelley, “California Crews Impress at Debut”, in The New York Times‎, page 29
20. (countable, phonetics) A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.
  Quotations
  The glottal stop or glottal catch is the sound used in English in the informal words uh-huh 'yes' and uh-uh 'no'.
  2006, Mitsugu Sakihara et al., Okinawan-English Wordbook‎
21. Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
  Quotations
  the way it has been writ in, by catches, and many long intervals of interruption
  1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […]
22. A slight remembrance; a trace.
  Quotations
  We retain a catch of those pretty stories.
  1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […]
verb
third-person singular simple present catches, present participle catching, simple past and past participle caught
1. (heading) To capture, overtake.
  1. (transitive) To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape).
  2. (transitive) To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive.
    Quotations
    And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Mark 12:13
  3. (transitive, figuratively, dated) To marry or enter into a similar relationship with.
    Quotations
    The public […] said that Miss Bogardus was a suffragist because she had never caught a man; that she wanted something, but it wasn't the vote.
    1933, Sinclair Lewis, Ann Vickers‎, page 108
    As for Aspasia, concubinage with Pericles brought her as much honor as she could hope to claim in Athens. […] from the moment she caught her man, this influential, unconventional woman became a lightning rod […].
    2006, Michael Collier, Georgia Machemer, Medea‎, page 23
  4. (transitive) To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc.
    Quotations
    The visitors started brightly and had an early chance when Valencia's experienced captain David Albeda gifted the ball to Fernando Torres, but the striker was caught by defender Adil Rami as he threatened to shoot.
    2011 September 28, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport
  5. (transitive) To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for.
    Quotations
    Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Did anyone catch the Charlie Rose the evening before last. Did you catch it? No, nothing?
    2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1)
    For reasons I shan’t bore you with, I got them to induce me at 39 weeks, at 10am, with the epidural going in first, and it was all a dream. […] But it was all over in time for my daughter to catch the Nigeria v Argentina World Cup game that evening, during which she seemed to reckon everything was miles offside.
    2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian‎
  6. (transitive) To unpleasantly discover unexpectedly; to unpleasantly surprise (someone doing something).
    Quotations
    Once he caught me gazing lingeringly and eagerly at him. He turned round with that mocking air he assumed when he wanted to hide his feelings.
    1952, Nikos Kazantzakis, chapter 1, in Carl Wildman, transl., Zorba the Greek, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, translation of Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά [Víos kai politeía tou Aléxi Zormpá], page 5
  7. (transitive) To travel by means of.
    Quotations
    The glare, the flies, while they waited, and he and the stationmaster put their heads together over the time-table, trying to find this other train, which, of course, they wouldn't catch.
    1920, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “The Escape”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, page 273
    After about a kilometer I caught a taxi to Santa Croce.
    1987, A.J. Quinnell, In the Name of the Father‎, page 111
  8. (transitive, rare) To become pregnant. (Only in past tense or as participle.)
    Quotations
    Had Nancy got caught with a child? If so she would destroy her parent's dreams for her.
    2002, Orpha Caton, Shadow on the Creek‎, pages 102–103
2. (heading) To seize hold of.
  1. (transitive, dated) To grab, seize, take hold of.
    Quotations
    Her aged Nourse, whose name was Glaucè hight, / Feeling her leape out of her loathed nest, / Betwixt her feeble armes her quickly keight […]
    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
  2. (transitive) To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep.
  3. (transitive) To grip or entangle.
  4. (intransitive) To be held back or impeded.
    Quotations
    Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
    1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […]
  5. (intransitive) To engage with some mechanism; to stick, to succeed in interacting with something or initiating some process.
  6. (transitive) To have something be held back or impeded.
  7. (intransitive) To make a grasping or snatching motion (at).
  8. (transitive, of fire) To spread or be conveyed to.
  9. (transitive, rowing) To grip (the water) with one's oars at the beginning of the stroke.
    Quotations
    Stop gathering, in that gradual fashion, and catch the water sharply and decisively.
    1906, Arthur W. Stevens, Practical Rowing with Scull and Sweep‎, page 63
  10. (intransitive, agriculture) To germinate and set down roots.
  11. (transitive, surfing) To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore.
    Quotations
    If you are surfing a wave through the rocks, make sure you have a clear route before catching the wave.
    2001, John Lull, Sea Kayaking Safety & Rescue‎, page 203
  12. (transitive, computing) To handle an exception.
3. (heading) To intercept.
  1. (transitive) To seize or intercept an object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium).
  2. (transitive, now rare) To seize (an opportunity) when it occurs.
    Quotations
    she internally resolved henceforward to catch every opportunity of eyeing the hair and of satisfying herself, […].
    1811, [Jane Austen], “18”, in Sense and Sensibility […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […]
  3. (transitive, cricket) To end a player's innings by catching a hit ball before the first bounce.
  4. (transitive, intransitive, baseball) To play (a specific period of time) as the catcher.
4. (heading) To receive (by being in the way).
  1. (transitive) To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.).
  2. (transitive) To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure.
  3. (transitive) To become infected by (an illness).
  4. (intransitive) To spread by infection or similar means.
    Quotations
    Does the sedition catch from man to man?
    1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, Act I, scene ii, page 5
    He accosted Mrs. Browne very civilly, told her his wife was very ill, and said he was sadly troubled to get a white woman to nurse her: "For," said he, "Mrs. Simpson has set it abroad that her fever is catching."
    1817, Mary Martha Sherwood, Stories Explanatory of the Church Catechism
  5. (transitive, intransitive) To receive or be affected by (wind, water, fire etc.).
    Quotations
    the sails caught and filled, and the boat jumped to life beneath us.
    2003, Jerry Dennis, The Living Great Lakes‎, page 63
  6. (transitive) To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection.
  7. (transitive) To be hit by something.
  8. (intransitive) To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish.
    Quotations
    The nets caught well, and Mr. Deeley reported it the best fishing ground he ever tried.
    1877, Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, page 135
  9. (intransitive) To get pregnant.
5. (heading) To take in with one's senses or intellect.
  1. (transitive) To grasp mentally: perceive and understand.
    Quotations
    “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
    1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company
  2. (transitive, informal) To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment).
  3. (transitive) To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully.
6. (heading) To seize attention, interest.
  1. (transitive) To charm or entrance.
    Quotations
    No, a far more natural beauty caught him.
    2004, Catherine Asaro, The Moon's Shadow‎, page 40
  2. (transitive) To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense).

Definition of "catch"

catch

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