catch (kætʃ
)
Definitions
verb
Word forms: catches, catching, caught
- (tr) to take hold of so as to retain or restrain ⇒
he caught the ball
- (tr) to take, seize, or capture, esp after pursuit
- (tr) to ensnare or deceive, as by trickery
- (tr) to surprise or detect in an act ⇒
he caught the dog rifling the larder
- (tr) to reach with a blow ⇒
the stone caught him on the side of the head
- (tr) to overtake or reach in time to board ⇒
if we hurry we should catch the next bus
- (tr) to see or hear; attend ⇒
I didn't catch the Ibsen play
- (tr) to be infected with ⇒
to catch a cold
- to hook or entangle or become hooked or entangled ⇒
her dress caught on a nail
- to fasten or be fastened with or as if with a latch or other device
- (tr) to attract or arrest ⇒
she tried to catch his eye
- (tr) to comprehend ⇒
I didn't catch his meaning
- (tr) to hear accurately ⇒
I didn't catch what you said
- (tr) to captivate or charm
- (tr) to perceive and reproduce accurately ⇒
the painter managed to catch his model's beauty
- (tr) to hold back or restrain ⇒
he caught his breath in surprise
- (intr) to become alight ⇒
the fire won't catch
- (tr) cricket to dismiss (a batsman) by intercepting and holding a ball struck by him before it touches the ground
- (intr) at
- to grasp or attempt to grasp
- to take advantage (of), esp eagerly ⇒
he caught at the chance
- (intr; used passively) informal to make pregnant
- See catch it
- See catch oneself on
noun
- the act of catching or grasping
- a device that catches and fastens, such as a latch
- anything that is caught, esp something worth catching
- the amount or number caught
- informal a person regarded as an eligible matrimonial prospect
- a check or break in the voice
- a break in a mechanism
- informal
- a concealed, unexpected, or unforeseen drawback or handicap
- ((as modifier) ⇒
a catch question
- a game in which a ball is thrown from one player to another
- cricket the catching of a ball struck by a batsman before it touches the ground, resulting in him being out
- music a type of round popular in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, having a humorous text that is often indecent or bawdy and hard to articulate See round (sense 31) , canon1 (sense 7)
Alternative Forms
ˈcatchable adjectiveWord Origin
C13 cacchen to pursue, from Old Northern French cachier, from Latin captāre to snatch, from capere to seizeTranslations
- British English:
catch
If you catch a person or animal, you capture them.Police say they are confident of catching the man.kætʃ VERB Police say they are confident of catching the man.
- Spanish:
pillar
v
- French:
attraper
vt
- German:
fangen
vt
- Chinese: 抓住 vt
- Arabic: يـُمْسِكُ بِ vt
- Portuguese: apanhar vt
- Russian: ловить vt
- Croatian: uhvatiti v
- Czech: chytit vt chytat
- Danish: gribe v
- Dutch: vangen vt
- Finnish: saada kiinni v
- Greek: πιάνω v
- Italian: prendere v
- Japanese: つかまえる v
- Korean: ...을 잡다 vt
- Norwegian: få tak i v
- Polish: złapać vt łapać
- Brazilian Portuguese: pegar vt
- European Spanish:
pillar
v
- Swedish: fånga vt
- Thai: จับได้ ฉวยจับ vt
- Turkish: yakalamak vt
- Vietnamese: bắt v
- British English:
catch
If you catch something that is moving, you take hold of it while it is in the air.I tried to catch the ball.kætʃ VERB I tried to catch the ball.
- French:
attraper
vt
- Arabic: يُـمْسِكُ بِ v
- Brazilian Portuguese: pegar vt
- British English:
catch
If you catch a bus or a train, you get on it.We caught the bus to school.kætʃ VERB We caught the bus to school.
- French:
prendre
vt
- Arabic: يَرْكَبُ v
- Brazilian Portuguese: pegar vi