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Webster 1913 Edition

Catch

Catch

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Caught
or
Catched
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Catching
. Catched is rarely used.]
[OE.
cacchen
, OF.
cachier
, dialectic form of
chacier
to hunt, F.
chasser
, fr. (assumend) LL.
captiare
, for L.
capture
, V. intens. of
capere
to take, catch. See
Capacious
, and cf.
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.”
Judg. i. 6.
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”.
Mark xii. 13.
5.
To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend;
as, to
catch
a melody
.
“Fiery thoughts . . . whereof I catch the issue.”
Tennyson.
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.
Dryden.
8.
To get possession of; to attain.
Torment myself to
catch
the English throne.
Shakespeare
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
.
To catch fire
,
to become inflamed or ignited.
–
to catch it
to get a scolding or beating; to suffer punishment.
[Colloq.]
–
To catch one’s eye
,
to interrupt captiously while speaking.
[Colloq.]
“You catch me up so very short.”
Dickens.
–
To catch up
,
to snatch; to take up suddenly.

Catch

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To attain possession.
[Obs.]
Have is have, however men do
catch
.
Shakespeare
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?
Addison.
To catch at
,
to attempt to seize; to be eager to get or use.
“[To] catch at all opportunities of subverting the state.”
Addison.
–
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.
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.
Shakespeare
5.
Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife in matrimony.
[Colloq.]
Marryat.
6.
pl.
Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
It has been writ by
catches
with many intervals.
Locke.
7.
A slight remembrance; a trace.
We retain a
catch
of those pretty stories.
Glanvill.
8.
(Mus.)
A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's words.

Webster 1828 Edition

Catch

CATCH

, v.t.
1.
To seize or lay hold on with the hand; carrying the sense of pursuit, thrusting forward the hand, or rushing on.
And they came upon him and caught him. Acts 6.
2.
To seize, in a general sense; as, to catch a ball; to catch hold of a bough.
3.
To seize, as in a snare or trap; to ensnare; to entangle.
They sent certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. Mark 12.
4.
To seize in pursuit; hence simply to overtake; a popular use of the word.
He ran, but could not catch him companion.
5.
To take hold; to communicate to.
The fire caught the adjoining building.
6.
To seize the affections; to engage and attach to; as, to catch the fair.
7.
To take or receive by contagion or infection; as, to catch the measles or small pox.
8.
To snatch; to take suddenly; as, to catch a book out of the hand.
9.
To receive something passing.
The swelling sails no more catch the soft airs and wanton in the sky. Trumbull.
To catch at, to endeavor to seize suddenly.
To catch at all opportunities of subverting the state.
To catch up, to snatch; to take up suddenly.

CATCH

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To communicate; to spread by infecting; as, a disease will catch from man to man.
2.
Any thing that seizes or takes hold, as a hook.
3.
The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to catch, or of watching an opportunity to seize; as, to lie upon the catch.
4.
A sudden advantage taken.
5.
The thing caught, considered as an object of desire; profit; advantage.
Hector shall have a great catch. Shak.
6.
A snatch; a short interval of action.
It has been writ by catches.
7.
A little portion.
We retain a catch of a pretty story.
8.
In music, a fugue in the unison, wherein to humor some conceit in the words, the melody is broken, and the sense is interrupted in one part, and caught and supported by another, or a different sense is given to the words; or a piece for three or more voices, one of which leads and the others follow in the same notes.

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