catch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kat͡ʃ/
enpr: kăch
ipa: /kat͡ʃ/
ipa: /kɛt͡ʃ/
enpr: kăch
ipa: /kæt͡ʃ/
enpr: kăch
enpr: kĕch
ipa: /kæt͡ʃ/
ipa: /kɛt͡ʃ/
other: /kɛt͡ʃ/
other: [uent]
enpr: kŏch
ipa: /kɑt͡ʃ/
homophone: ketch stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
rhymes: -ætʃ
rhymes: -ɛtʃ
Forms: form: catches
Etymology: From Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, variant of Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Akin to Modern French chasser (from Old French chacier) and Spanish cazar, and thus a doublet of chase. Compare ketch. Displaced Middle English fangen ("to catch"; > Modern English fang (verb)), from Old English fōn (“to seize, take”); Middle English lacchen ("to catch" and heavily displaced Modern English latch), from Old English læċċan.
The verb became irregular, possibly under the influence of the semantically similar latch (from Old English læċċan), whose past tense was lahte, lauhte, laught (Old English læhte), until becoming regularised in Modern English.
Senses: examples: text: The catch of the perpetrator was the product of a year of police work.
glosses: The act of seizing or capturing.
examples: text: The player made an impressive catch.
text: Nice catch!
glosses: The act of catching an object in motion, especially a ball.
examples: text: Good catch. I never would have remembered that.
text: "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.
ref: 2008, John I. Carney, Soapstone, page 74:
glosses: The act of noticing, understanding or hearing.
examples: text: The kids love to play catch.
glosses: The game of catching a ball.
examples: text: The fishermen took pictures of their catch.
text: The catch amounted to five tons of swordfish.
glosses: Something which is captured or caught.
examples: text: Did you see his latest catch?
text: He's a good catch.
text: "Aaaugh! Just once, I wish I could be considered a catch by men younger than fifty..."
ref: 2014 July 10, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 561 - A Catch:
glosses: A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse.
examples: text: She installed a sturdy catch to keep her cabinets closed tight.
glosses: A stopping mechanism, especially a clasp which stops something from opening.
examples: text: There was a catch in his voice when he spoke his father's name.
glosses: A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion.
examples: text: It sounds like a great idea, but what's the catch?
text: Be careful, that's a catch question.
synonyms: hitch
qualifier: sometimes noun adjunct
glosses: A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation.
examples: text: I bent over to see under the table and got a catch in my side.
glosses: A crick; a sudden muscle pain during unaccustomed positioning when the muscle is in use.
examples: text: In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
ref: 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266:
text: "'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.'
ref: 1872, Harriet Martineau, Deerbrook, page 90:
glosses: A fragment of music or poetry.
examples: text: You lie at the catch again: this is not for edification.
ref: 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, Part I Section 3:
text: The common and the canon law […] lie at catch, and wait advantages one against another.
ref: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
glosses: A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush.
examples: text: There was a good catch of rye and a good fall growth.
ref: 1905, Eighth Biennial Report of the Board of Horticulture of the State of Oregon, page 204:
topics: agriculture
business
lifestyle
glosses: A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1612, John Smith, Map of Virginia, Kupperman, published 1988, page 158:
glosses: A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch.
examples: text: Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch / You taught me but while-ere?
ref: 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, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
text: One night, I remember, we sang a catch, written (words and music) by Orlo Williams, for three voices.
ref: 1966, Allen Tate, T. S. Eliot: The Man and His Work, page 76:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics.
examples: text: The phrase repeated itself like the catch of a song.
ref: 2003, Robert Hugh Benson, Come Rack! Come Rope!, page 268:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse.
examples: text: It was he who removed Peter Bowler with the help of a good catch at third slip.
ref: 1997 May 10, Henry Blofeld, “Cricket: Rose and Burns revive Somerset”, in The Independent:
topics: ball-games
baseball
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out.
examples: text: […] in the field he is all activity, covers an immense amount of ground, and is a sure catch.
ref: 1894 September 16, “To Meet Lord Hawke's Team”, in The New York Times, page 21:
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1935 June 7, Robert F. Kelley, “California Crews Impress at Debut”, in The New York Times, page 29:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
rowing
sports
glosses: The first contact of an oar with the water.
examples: text: When a Scot pronounces water, better, or bottle—wa’er, be’er, or bo’le—the sound is precisely that of the catch; […].
ref: 1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, In the South Seas […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1896, →OCLC:
text: The glottal stop or glottal catch is the sound used in English in the informal words uh-huh 'yes' and uh-uh 'no'.
ref: 2006, Mitsugu Sakihara et al., Okinawan-English Wordbook, →ISBN:
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
phonetics
phonology
sciences
glosses: A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.
examples: text: the way it has been writ in, by catches, and many long intervals of interruption
ref: 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Introduction”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
examples: text: We retain a catch of those pretty stories.
ref: 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC:
glosses: A slight remembrance; a trace.
Synonyms: sense: act of capturing
word: seizure
sense: act of capturing
word: capture
sense: act of capturing
word: collar
sense: act of capturing
word: snatch
sense: the act of catching a ball
word: grasp
sense: the act of catching a ball
word: snatch
sense: act of noticing
word: observation
sense: a find
word: prize
sense: a find
word: find
sense: a find
word: conquest
sense: a find
word: beau
sense: quantity captured
word: haul
sense: quantity captured
word: take
sense: stopping mechanism
word: stop
sense: stopping mechanism
word: chock
sense: stopping mechanism
word: clasp
sense: stopping mechanism
word: hasp
sense: stopping mechanism
word: latch
sense: hidden difficulty
word: snag
sense: hidden difficulty
word: problem
sense: hidden difficulty
word: trick
sense: hidden difficulty
word: gimmick
sense: hidden difficulty
word: hitch
sense: fragment of music
word: snatch
sense: fragment of music
word: fragment
sense: fragment of music
word: snippet
sense: fragment of music
word: bit
sense: refrain
word: chorus
sense: refrain
word: refrain
sense: refrain
word: burden
Derived terms: ass catch
body catch
bullet catch
bycatch
by-catch
Catch-22
catchbasin
catch bet
catch-breath
catchbreath
catch crop
catch-dog
catch fence
catchful
catchline
catchmark
catch-meadow
catch of the day
catch plate
catchpoints
catch-rope
catch step
catch the ten
catch title
catchwork
catchy
crowd catch
fair catch
glottal catch
miscatch
safety catch
shoestring catch
time catch