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Definition catch

Etymology

From Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, from Late Latin capti?re, present active infinitive of capti?, from Latin capt?, frequentative of capi?. Akin to Modern French chasser (from Old French chacier) and Spanish cazar, and thus a doublet of chase. Displaced Middle English fangen ("to catch"; > Modern English fang (verb)), from Old English f?n (“to seize, take”); Middle English lacchen ("to catch"; > Modern English latch), from Old English læ??an.

The verb became irregular, possibly under the influence of the semantically similar latch (from Old English læ??an) whose past tense was lahte, lauhte, laught (Old English læhte) until becoming regularised in Modern English.

Noun

catch (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.
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.
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.
12. (obsolete) A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush.
13. (countable, agriculture) A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.
14. (obsolete) A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch.
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.
16. (countable, music) The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse.
17. (countable, cricket, baseball) The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out.
18. (countable, cricket) A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well.
19. (countable, rowing) The first contact of an oar with the water.
20. (countable, phonetics) A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.
21. Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
22. A slight remembrance; a trace.

Verb

catch (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). [from 13c.]
   2. (transitive) To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive. [from 14c.]
   3. (transitive, figuratively, dated) To marry or enter into a similar relationship with.
   4. (transitive) To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc. [from 16c.]
   5. (transitive) To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for. [from 17c.]
   6. (transitive) To unpleasantly discover unexpectedly; to unpleasantly surprise (someone doing something). [from 17c.]
   7. (transitive) To travel by means of. [from 19c.]
   8. (transitive, rare) To become pregnant. (Only in past tense or as participle.) [from 19c.]
2. (heading) To seize hold of.
   1. (transitive, dated) To grab, seize, take hold of. [from 13c.]
   2. (transitive) To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep. [from 14c.]
   3. (transitive) To grip or entangle. [from 17c.]
   4. (intransitive) To be held back or impeded.
   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). [from 17c.]
   8. (transitive) Of fire, to spread or be conveyed to. [from 18c.]
   9. (transitive, rowing) To grip (the water) with one's oars at the beginning of the stroke. [from 19c.]
   10. (intransitive, agriculture) To germinate and set down roots. [from 19c.]
   11. (transitive, surfing) To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore.
   12. (transitive, computing) To handle an exception. [from 20c.]
3. (heading) To intercept.
   1. (transitive) To seize or intercept an object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium). [from 16c.]
   2. (transitive, now rare) To seize (an opportunity) when it occurs. [from 16c.]
   3. (transitive, cricket) To end a player's innings by catching a hit ball before the first bounce. [from 18c.]
   4. (transitive, intransitive, baseball) To play (a specific period of time) as the catcher. [from 19c.]
4. (heading) To receive (by being in the way).
   1. (transitive) To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.). [from 13c.]
   2. (transitive) To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure. [from 13c.]
   3. (transitive) To be infected by (an illness). [from 16c.]
   4. (intransitive) To spread by infection or similar means.
   5. (transitive, intransitive) To receive or be affected by (wind, water, fire etc.). [from 18c.]
   6. (transitive) To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection. [from 16c.]
   7. (transitive) To be hit by something.
   8. (intransitive) To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish.
   9. (intransitive) To get pregnant.
5. (heading) To take in with one's senses or intellect.
   1. (transitive) To grasp mentally: perceive and understand. [from 16c.]
   2. (transitive, informal) To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment). [from 20c.]
   3. (transitive) To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully. [from 17c.]
6. (heading) To seize attention, interest.
   1. (transitive) To charm or entrance. [from 14c.]
   2. (transitive) To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense). [from 17c.]
7. (heading) To obtain or experience

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