Catch
Catch , transitive verb
[Old English cacchen, Old French cachier, dialectic form of chacier to hunt, French chasser, from (assumend) Late Latin captiare, for Latin capture, V. intens. of capere to take, catch. See Capacious, and compare Chase, Case a box.]
1.
To lay hold on; to seize, especially with the hand; to grasp (anything) in motion, with the effect of holding; as, to catch a ball.
2.
To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief.
They pursued... and caught him.
3.
To take captive, as in a snare or net, or on a hook; as, to catch a bird or fish.
4.
Hence: To insnare; to entangle.
To catch him in his words
5.
To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to catch a melody.
Fiery thoughts... whereof I catch the issue.
6.
To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the adjoining building.
7.
To engage and attach; to please; to charm.
The soothing arts that catch the fair.
8.
To get possession of; to attain.
Torment myself to catch the English throne.
9.
To take or receive; esp. to take by sympathy, contagion, infection, or exposure; as, to catch the spirit of an occasion; to catch the measles or smallpox; to catch cold; the house caught fire.
10.
To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to catch one in the act of stealing.
11.
To reach in time; to come up with; as, to catch a train.
Collocations (4)
To catch fire , to become inflamed or ignited.
to catch it , to get a scolding or beating; to suffer punishment. [Colloquial]
To catch one's eye , to interrupt captiously while speaking. [Colloquial] You catch me up so very short.
To catch up , to snatch; to take up suddenly.
Catch , intransitive verb
1.
To attain possession. [Obsolete]
Have is have, however men do catch.
2.
To be held or impeded by entanglement or a light obstruction; as, a kite catches in a tree; a door catches so as not to open.
3.
To take hold; as, the bolt does not catch.
4.
To spread by, or as by, infecting; to communicate.
Does the sedition catch from man to man?
Collocations (2)
To catch at , to attempt to seize; to be eager to get or use. [To] catch at all opportunities of subverting the state.
To catch up with , to come up with; to overtake.
Catch , noun
1.
Act of seizing; a grasp. — Sir P. Sidney
2.
That by which anything is caught or temporarily fastened; as, the catch of a gate.
3.
The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to lay hold of, or of watching he opportunity to seize; as, to lie on the catch. [Archaic] — Addison
The common and the canon law... lie at catch, and wait advantages one againt another.
4.
That which is caught or taken; profit; gain; especially, the whole quantity caught or taken at one time; as, a good catch of fish.
Hector shall have a great catch if he knock out either of your brains.
5.
Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife in matrimony. [Colloquial] — Marryat
6.
Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
It has been writ by catches with many intervals.
7.
A slight remembrance; a trace.
We retain a catch of those pretty stories.
8.
(Music) A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's words.