Catch

v. t. [imp. & p. p. CAUGHT or CATCHED; p. pr. & vb. n. CATCHING. Caught is very rarely used.] [O. Eng. cacche, perhaps akin to A-S. ceac, fetter, or from O. Fr. cachier, cacher, chucher, cacer, cacier, chacier, to hunt, N. Fr. chasser, It. cacciare, Pr. cassar, Sp. & Pg. cazar, from Lat. captiare, for captare, v. intens. of capere, to take, catch.]

1Sense 1. To lay hold on; to seize, especially with the hand; as, to catch a ball.

2Sense 2. To take captive, as in a snare or net; to entangle; to apprehend; as, to catch a bird; to catch a thief. “To catch him in his words.” Mark xii. 13.

3Sense 3. To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the adjoining building.

4Sense 4. To engage and attach; to please; to charm. “The soothing arts that catch the fair.” Dryden.

5Sense 5. To take or receive, especially to take by sympathy, contagion, or infection; as, to catch the spirit of an occasion; to catch a melody; to catch cold; to catch the measles or small-pox.

6Sense 6. To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to catch one in the act of stealing. “Catching weather.” Chapman.

7Sense 7. To come up with or overtake; as, to catch a companion.

To catch at, to endeavor to seize eagerly or quickly. “[To] catch at all opportunities of subverting the state.” Addison. — To catch up, to snatch; to take up suddenly.

v. i. 1. To be held or impeded by entanglement or slight obstruction; as, a kite catches in a tree; a door catches so as not to open. 2. To spread by infecting; to communicate. “Sickness is catching.” Shak.

n. 1. The act of seizing; seizure. Sidney.

2Sense 2. That by which any thing is caught; as, the catch of a gate.

3Sense 3. The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to lay hold of, or of watching the opportunity to seize; as, to lie on the catch. Addison.

The common and the canon law . . . lie at catch, and wait advantages one against another. Fuller.

4Sense 4. That which is caught or taken; profit; advantage; gain.

Hector shall have a great catch if he knock out your brains. Shak.

5Sense 5. A passing opportunity seized and improved; a snatch.

It has been writ by catches with many intervals. Locke.

6Sense 6. The whole quantity caught at one time; as, a good catch of fish.

7Sense 7. (Mus.) A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's sentences.

n. Catechu, so called in commerce. See CATECHU. Simmonds.