<B>catch, </B>verb, <B>caught,</B> <B>catching,</B> noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to take and hold; seize; capture. <BR> <I>Ex. Catch the ball with both hands. The policeman caught the thief. Here, catch hold of the end of the rope.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to entangle or grip. <BR> <I>Ex. A nail caught her dress.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to cause to be held or seized accidentally. <BR> <I>Ex. She caught her finger in the door.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>to come on suddenly; surprise. <BR> <I>Ex. He caught the burglar in the act of opening the safe. Mother caught me just as I was hiding her birthday present.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) to ensnare or entrap. <BR> <I>Ex. to catch him in his words (Mark 12:13).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to reach or get to in time. <BR> <I>Ex. You have just five minutes to catch your train.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>to take; get. <BR> <I>Ex. to catch a breath of fresh air, to catch a movie. Paper catches fire easily.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to grasp or intercept. <BR> <I>Ex. to catch the latest news report. The sail caught the breeze. He caught a ride into town with an old friend who was passing by.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Figurative.) to take or contract, especially by exposure orimitation. <BR> <I>Ex. to catch a a cold, to catch the spirit of the occasion.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>to apprehend by the senses or intellect; hear, see, or understand by an effort. <BR> <I>Ex. He spoke so rapidly that I didn't catch the meaning of what he said.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to arrest or engage (a sense). <BR> <I>Ex. Bright colors catch the baby's eye.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>to reach with a blow; hit; strike. <BR> <I>Ex. The stone caught him on the leg.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>(Figurative.) to check suddenly (one's breath). <BR> <I>Ex. She caught her breath in surprise.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>to captivate; charm. <BR> <I>Ex. She still each method tries to catch me (Robert Browning).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to become hooked or fastened. <BR> <I>Ex. My dress caught in the door.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to become lighted; burn. <BR> <I>Ex. Paper catches easily.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to act as a catcher in baseball. <BR> <I>Ex. He catches for our school team.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to take proper hold so as to act. <BR> <I>Ex. The bolt does not catch.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to light, as fire; flame up; spread. <BR> <I>Ex. His eloquence caught like a flame (Tennyson).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act of catching. <BR> <I>Ex. Her catch was quick enough to keep the plate from hitting the floor.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a thing that catches. <BR> <I>Ex. The catch on that door is broken.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a thing caught. <BR> <I>Ex. A dozen fish is a good catch.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>something worth catching. <DD><B> b. </B>(Informal.) a desirable person to marry because of wealth, position, or other status. <BR> <I>Ex. The rich bachelor was the catch of the season.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a scrap or fragment of anything. <BR> <I>Ex. He sang catches of songs.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) a choking or stoppage of the breath. <BR> <I>Ex. He had a catch in his voice.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a hidden or tricky condition in a plan, etc.. <BR> <I>Ex. There is a catch to that question.</I> <DD><B> 8a. </B>a game of throwing and catching a ball. <BR> <I>Ex. The children played catch on the lawn.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the act of catching a ball on the fly. <BR> <I>Ex. He made a fine catch with one hand.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Baseball.) <B>=catcher.</B> <DD><B> 9. </B>(Music.) <DD><B> a. </B>a short song sung by several persons or groups, beginning one after the other. <DD><B> b. </B>a round for three or more persons in which the words are so arranged as to produce ludicrous effects. <DD><B> 10. </B>the sprouting of a crop in the field. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>getting one's attention; arousing one's interest. <BR> <I>Ex. Advertisements often contain catch phrases.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) tricky; deceptive. <BR> <I>Ex. a catch question.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>catch at,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to try to catch. </I> <I>Ex. catching at his rein (William Cowper).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to seize eagerly. <BR> <I>Ex. to catch at an opportunity, a proposal, etc.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>catch it,</B> </I>(Informal.) to be scolded or punished. <BR> <I>Ex. When the boy spilled the milk, he was afraid he would catch it from his mother. We all thought Tom was about to catch it (Frederick Marryat).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>catch on,</B> (Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>(U.S.) to get the idea; understand. </I> <I>Ex. The second time the teacher explained the problem, the boy caught on.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to be widely used or accepted; become popular. <BR> <I>Ex. That new song caught on quickly.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>catch out,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>(Cricket.) to put (a batsman) out by catching the ball. </I> <I>Ex. If a striker is caught out, state the fieldsman's name (Cricket Manual).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(British.) to find out or discover (a person) in a mistake or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. The regulations at the docks are so [intricate] that no newcomer could ever hope to catch out an old hand (Punch).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>catch up</B> (<B>with</B>), <DD><B> a. </B>to come up even (with a person or thing) while going the same way; overtake. </I> <I>Ex. The dog ran as fast as he could to catch up with the car.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) to come up to date; keep abreast. <BR> <I>Ex. I am trying to catch up on my reading. They haven't caught up yet with the latest styles.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to pick up suddenly; snatch; grab. <BR> <I>Ex. When flames broke out, she caught up the baby.</I> <DD><B> d. </B>(Figurative.) to interrupt and annoy with criticisms or questions; heckle. <BR> <I>Ex. You catch me up so very short (Dickens).</I> <DD><B> e. </B>to hold up in loops. <BR> <I>Ex. Her train was caught up by a ribbon.</I> <DD><B> f. </B>(Figurative.) to be or become involved. <BR> <I>Ex. There may be parents already caught up in the college panic when they look for a good nursery school (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="catch22">
<B>Catch-22</B> or <B>catch-22, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>noun </I> a condition intended to deceive or cheat by its hidden complicated or perverted nature, especially in spite of efforts to override such a condition; any paradoxical rule or situation. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the Catch-22 of modern prison life, "a grand hypocrisy in which custodial concerns, administrative exigencies and punishment are all disguised as treatment" (Atlantic).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> characterized by such a condition or situation. <BR> <I>Ex. By organizing for complete military disaster it is possible, on a sort of warped Catch-22 approach, to emerge from war economically prosperous (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="catchable">
<B>catchable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be caught. <BR> <I>Ex. fish raised to a catchable size.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="catchall">
<B>catchall, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><I>noun </I> anything that catches, holds, includes, or covers a variety of odds and ends. <BR> <I>Ex. the general catch-all ... for all the family litter (Harriet Beecher Stowe). These demands ... are merely a catchall for myriad often ill-defined grievances (Time).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> serving to hold, include, or cover a variety of things. <BR> <I>Ex. a catchall Congressional bill.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="catchascatchcan">
<B>catch-as-catch-can, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>with no holds barred, unrestrained. <DD><B> 2. </B>haphazard; random. <BR> <I>Ex. Most of the other kids, in that easygoing atmosphere, took their schooling catch-as-catch-can fashion (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a style of wrestling in which a wrestler is allowed to hold or take down his opponent below the waist and to use the parts of his own body below the waist to take down his opponent or apply a hold. It is the common style of wrestling in the United States. </DL>
<A NAME="catchbasin">
<B>catch basin,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a receptacle placed beneath the grating or other opening of a sewer to retain matter that might block up the sewer. <DD><B> 2. </B>a reservoir for catching and retaining surface drainage over large areas. <BR> <I>Ex. Chemical sprays ... had to be used with restraint, because of the danger of contaminating the catch basins Bermuda relies on for its drinking water (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="catchcrop">
<B>catch crop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a crop grown between the planting of regular crops, when the land would ordinarily lie fallow. </DL>
<A NAME="catchcropping">
<B>catch-cropping, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the practice of growing catch crops. </DL>
<A NAME="catchdrain">
<B>catch drain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a drain or ditch, especially on a hillside, to catch water. <DD><B> 2. </B>a drain by the side of a canal or conduit to catch the surplus I water. </DL>
<A NAME="catcher">
<B>catcher, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that catches something. <DD><B> 2. </B>a baseball player who stands behind the batter to catch balls thrown by the pitcher and not hit by the batter and to tag runners to make a putout at home plate. </DL>
<A NAME="catcherboat">
<B>catcher boat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a boat with a harpoon gun that accompanies a factory ship and does the actual hunting of whales. </DL>
<A NAME="catcherresonator">
<B>catcher resonator,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> part of a klystron, or electron tube in an ultrahigh-frequency circuit where bunched electrons are caught and their energy absorbed. </DL>
<A NAME="catchfly">
<B>catchfly, </B>noun, pl. <B>-flies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a plant of the pink family whose sticky stem and calyx are able to catch small insects. </DL>
<A NAME="catching">
<B>catching, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>likely to spread from one person to another; contagious; infectious. <BR> <I>Ex. Colds are catching. Enthusiasm is catching.</I> (SYN) communicable. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) attractive or fascinating. <BR> <I>Ex. a catching time. The singer has a catching style.</I> (SYN) captivating. </DL>
<A NAME="catchline">
<B>catch line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a catch phrase or sentence. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a line of type in which a catchword or entry word occurs. <DD><B> b. </B>a line of type that is shorter than the surrounding lines. <DD><B> c. </B>a headline inserted on a galley proof for the printer's use and later removed. <DD><B> 3. </B>a phrase or sentence used by a performer to get a laugh. </DL>
<A NAME="catchmeadow">
<B>catch meadow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a meadow irrigated by water from a spring or rivulet on the slope of a hill, especially by catch drains. </DL>
