Word: catch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Latin captus Proto-Indo-European *-yetider. Latin -io Vulgar Latin *captiāre Old French chacierbor. Anglo-Norman cachierbor. Middle English cacchen English catch 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. Via PIE cognate with have. 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. Pronunciation: /kæt͡ʃ/, /kɛt͡ʃ/, /kɑt͡ʃ/ 1. The act of seizing or capturing. Labels: countable Example: The catch of the perpetrator was the product of a year of police work. 2. The act of catching an object in motion, especially a ball. Labels: countable Example: The player made an impressive catch. Example: Nice catch! 3. The act of noticing, understanding or hearing. Labels: countable Example: Good catch. I never would have remembered that. Example: "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. 4. The game of catching a ball. Labels: uncountable Example: The kids love to play catch. 5. Something which is captured or caught. Labels: countable Example: The fishermen took pictures of their catch. Example: The catch amounted to five tons of swordfish. 6. A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse. Labels: broadly, colloquial, countable Example: Did you see his latest catch? Example: He's a good catch. 7. A stopping mechanism, especially a clasp which stops something from opening. Labels: countable Example: She installed a sturdy catch to keep her cabinets closed tight. 8. A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion. Labels: countable Example: There was a catch in his voice when he spoke his father's name. 9. A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation. Labels: countable Example: It sounds like a great idea, but what's the catch? Example: Be careful, that's a catch question. 10. A crick; a sudden muscle pain during unaccustomed positioning when the muscle is in use. Labels: countable Example: I bent over to see under the table and got a catch in my side. 11. A fragment of music or poetry. Labels: countable Example: In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road. Example: "'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.' 12. A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: You lie at the catch again: this is not for edification. Example: The common and the canon law […] lie at catch, and wait advantages one against another. 13. A crop which has germinated and begun to grow. Labels: countable Example: There was a good catch of rye and a good fall growth. 14. A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: 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. 15. A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics. Labels: countable Example: Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch / You taught me but while-ere? Example: One night, I remember, we sang a catch, written (words and music) by Orlo Williams, for three voices. 16. The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse. Labels: countable Example: The phrase repeated itself like the catch of a song. 17. The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out. Labels: countable Example: It was he who removed Peter Bowler with the help of a good catch at third slip. 18. A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well. Labels: countable Example: […] in the field he is all activity, covers an immense amount of ground, and is a sure catch. 19. The first contact of an oar with the water. Labels: countable Example: 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. 20. A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough. Labels: countable Example: When a Scot pronounces water, better, or bottle—wa’er, be’er, or bo’le—the sound is precisely that of the catch; […]. Example: The glottal stop or glottal catch is the sound used in English in the informal words uh-huh 'yes' and uh-uh 'no'. 21. Passing opportunities seized; snatches. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the way it has been writ in, by catches, and many long intervals of interruption 22. A slight remembrance; a trace. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: We retain a catch of those pretty stories.