Definition of: catch

(kach) v. caught, catch·ing v.t.
1. To take, seize, or come upon, as something departing or fleeing; take captive; capture.
2. To entrap; ensnare.
3. To captivate, gain, or hold.
4. To apprehend or perceive clearly.
5. To surprise; detect, as in a misdeed.
6. To contract; incur, as a disease.
7. To arrive at or take, as a train or boat, just before its departure.
8. To arrest the motion of; entangle.
9. To grasp and retain.
10. To perceive, as something fleeting, with momentary distinction: to catch sight of.
11. To reach, as a person, with a blow: She caught him a box on the ear.
—v.i.
12. To make a movement of grasping or seizing: He caught at the idea.
13. In baseball, to act as catcher.
14. To become entangled or fastened.
15. To be communicated or communicable, as a disease or enthusiasm.
16. To take fire; kindle; ignite.
17. Naut. To catch the wind: an elliptical expression.
—to catch it Colloq. To receive a reprimand, scolding, drubbing, or the like.
—to catch (one) napping To take off guard; outwit.
—to catch on Colloq.
1. To understand.
2. To become popular or fashionable.
—to catch out
1. In baseball, to put a batter out by catching the ball.
2. To discover (someone) in error.
—to catch up
1. To overtake.
2. To regain by or as if by overtaking: to catch up on one's lessons.
—to catch up with (or up to) To overtake.
—noun
1. The act of catching; the act of grasping or seizing; specifically, the act of catching a batted or thrown ball before it reaches the ground, as in baseball, cricket, etc.; also a catcher.
2. A hold or grip, as in wrestling.
3. That which catches or fastens; a fastening.
4. That which is or may be caught or gained, such as a person or thing worth obtaining, as in marriage.
5. The amount of fish or the like caught at one time or in a given period.
6. The state in which or the extent to which a crop germinates.
7. An artful trick or question.
8. An impediment; a break, as in the voice or breathing.
9. Music A round; also, a scrap of song.
—adjective Attracting or meant to attract notice; catchy; a catch phrase. [<AF cachier <LL captiare, freq. of capere take, hold. Doublet of CHASE.] Synonyms (verb): apprehend, capture, clasp, clutch, comprehend, discover, ensnare, entrap, grasp, grip, gripe, overtake, secure, seize, snatch, take. To catch is to come up with or take possession of something departing, fugitive, or illusive. We catch a runaway horse, a flying ball, a mouse in a trap. To “catch at” is to attempt to catch, often unsuccessfully. We clutch with a swift, tenacious movement of the fingers; we grasp with a firm closure of the whole hand; we grip or gripe with the strongest muscular closure of the whole hand possible to exert. We clasp in the arms. We snatch with a quick, sudden, and usually a surprising motion. In the figurative sense, catch is used of any act that brings a person or thing into our power or possession; as, to catch a criminal in the act; to catch an idea, in the sense of apprehend or comprehend. Compare ARREST, GRASP. Antonyms: lose, miss, release, restore.