Catch /(?)/

Catch

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Caught; p. pr. & vb. n. Catching

  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.
  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.
  5. To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to catch a melody.
  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.

Phrases & Compounds
To catch fire
to become inflamed or ignited.
to catch it
to get a scolding or beating; to suffer punishment.
To catch one's eye
to interrupt captiously while speaking.
To catch up
to snatch; to take up suddenly.

Catch

v. i.
  1. To attain possession. [Obs.]
    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?

Phrases & Compounds
To catch at
to attempt to seize; to be eager to get or use.
To catch up with
to come up with; to overtake.

Catch

n.
  1. Act of seizing; a grasp.
  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]
    The common and the canon law . . . lie at catch, and wait advantages one againt another.
    — T. Fuller.
  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. [Colloq.]
  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. A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's words. (Mus.)