catch

catch1 [ kætʃ ] (past tense and past participle caught [ kɔt ] ) verb ***

▸ 1 stop and hold something/someone

▸ 2 stop someone escaping

▸ 3 find and arrest

▸ 4 (hunt and) stop animal

▸ 5 get on public vehicle

▸ 6 discover someone doing something

▸ 7 get disease/illness

▸ 8 find someone not prepared

▸ 9 talk to/telephone someone

▸ 10 hit part of body

▸ 11 get stuck on something

▸ 12 start to burn

▸ 13 see/watch/listen to something

▸ 14 discover soon enough

▸ 15 get someone's attention etc.

▸ 16 see/smell for short time

▸ 17 hear something that someone says

▸ 18 show/represent

▸ 19 of light

▸ 20 wind/wave

▸ 21 between possibilities

▸ 22 get into bad situation

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) intransitive or transitive to stop and hold something that is moving through the air, especially an object that someone throws:

She tossed the bag of potato chips to Kate, who caught it with one hand.

Can I borrow your pen? Here, catch!

a ) transitive to stop and keep hold of someone who is falling:

Anne stayed close enough to catch the child if he fell.

b ) transitive if a container catches liquid or small objects or pieces, they fall into it when it is below them:

Put a bucket over there to catch the drips.

c ) intransitive to be the CATCHER in baseball

2. ) transitive to get hold of and stop someone you have been chasing so that they cannot escape:

She raced to catch the toddler before he could make it out of the front gate.

Can't catch me , her brother shouted as he ran up the stairs.

a ) to take hold of someone or a part of their body with your hands:

Jack caught her as she made for the door.

catch someone by the wrist/elbow/sleeve etc.: With one swift movement, he caught her by the wrist.

catch hold of someone/something: She caught hold of his arm and pulled him back.

3. ) transitive if the police catch someone, they find them and arrest them:

The police say they're doing all they can to catch the culprits.

4. ) transitive to stop an animal, bird, or insect and prevent it from escaping, especially using a TRAP:

a device used for catching flies

We rescued a rabbit caught in a trap.

a ) to hunt and stop an animal in order to kill and eat it:

Wolves hunt in packs, using careful strategies to catch their prey.

b ) to get a fish from a river, lake, or the ocean, using a fishing net or ROD:

Drift nets are used mainly for catching tuna.

freshly/locally caught: freshly caught trout

5. ) transitive to get on a train, bus, airplane, or boat that is traveling somewhere:

I caught the next train back to New York.

a ) to arrive in time to get on a train, bus, airplane, or boat that is traveling somewhere:

If we want to catch that bus we'll have to leave right now.

have a train/bus/plane etc. to catch: I have a train to catch, so we have to finish by 4:30.

6. ) transitive to find someone doing something that they do not expect you to see, especially something wrong or illegal:

catch someone doing something: Several times she'd caught him staring at her.

catch someone in the act (of doing something): Burglars who are caught in the act have little chance of escaping punishment.

catch someone red-handed (=find someone doing something wrong or illegal): Diana was caught red-handed taking money from her mother's purse.

7. ) transitive to get a disease or illness:

He caught the flu and had to stay in bed.

catch something from someone/something: Brian caught chickenpox from his nephew.

catch your death (of cold) (=get a bad cold): Get out of those wet clothes or you'll catch your death of cold.

8. ) transitive to find someone in a situation that they are not expecting or prepared for:

The railroads had all been caught completely unprepared by the sudden snowfalls.

catch someone by surprise: The question caught their spokesperson by surprise.

catch someone at a bad moment/time: I've obviously caught you at a bad moment. I'll come back later.

catch someone off guard (=do something that someone is not ready for): Harry looked up suddenly, catching Emily off guard.

9. ) transitive INFORMAL to find someone available to talk by going to or telephoning them at the place where they are:

Call me at the office. You can usually catch me there after 8:30.

Margaret caught me just as I was leaving.

10. ) transitive to hit someone on a part of their body:

He caught his opponent with a right cross to the chin.

1

a ) to hit part of your body on something by accident:

Sue slipped in the yard and caught her head on the gate post.

11. ) intransitive or transitive to become stuck on something, or make something do this:

As she ran, her foot caught on something and she fell.

I must have caught my shirt on a nail when I was moving that wood.

12. ) intransitive or transitive to start to burn:

The dry twigs soon caught fire.

13. ) transitive INFORMAL to see, watch, or listen to something:

Want to catch a movie tonight?

14. ) transitive to discover a problem or medical condition and stop it from becoming worse:

Doctors assured her that her symptoms had been caught early enough to treat.

15. ) transitive to have a sudden effect on something such as someone's attention or imagination:

Suddenly my attention was caught by a truck parked a short distance ahead.

His campaign seems to have caught the imagination of many other Germans.

16. ) transitive to see or smell something for a very short time:

catch sight of someone/something: As she went out, she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

catch a glimpse of someone/something: People lined the streets outside the theater to catch a glimpse of her.

catch a whiff of something (=smell something): Adam caught a whiff of expensive perfume as she passed by.

17. ) transitive usually in negatives or questions to hear something that someone says:

The music was so loud I didn't catch what he said.

I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.

18. ) transitive to show or be a symbol of something:

It wasn't a very radical or intellectual newspaper, but it caught a mood of dissent in mid-1950s America.

19. ) transitive if light catches something, or if something catches the light, the light shines on it and makes it look bright and shiny:

A fish in the river catches the light one second and swims off into a dark pool the next.

20. ) transitive if the wind or a wave catches something, it gets behind or under it and suddenly blows or pushes it hard:

The balloon was caught by the wind and carried away.

21. ) transitive usually passive if you are caught between two opposite feelings or actions, you do not know how to react to something:

We were caught between wanting to believe him and finding his story too unlikely for words.

22. ) transitive usually passive to become unexpectedly involved in an unpleasant or annoying situation:

be caught in something: We were caught in a heavy storm.

Sorry I'm late I got caught in traffic.

be/get caught up in something: She got caught up in a clash between protesters and police.

be caught in the middle (=be involved in a disagreement between other people): My parents are always arguing, and it's me who gets caught in the middle.

be caught with your pants down INFORMAL

to be embarrassed by something that happens because you are not prepared for it

catch your breath

1. ) to take time to start to breathe normally again after physical exercise:

I had to stop about halfway up the hill and catch my breath.

2. ) to stop breathing suddenly for a short time because you are surprised or impressed:

beautiful scenes that make you catch your breath

catch someone's eye

1. ) if something catches your eye, you suddenly notice it:

There was one painting that caught my eye.

2. ) to get someone's attention by looking at them:

He tried to catch the attendant's eye but the man was already turning away.

catch the post BRITISH

to mail a letter in time for the next collection

catch some rays SPOKEN

to lie in the sun for pleasure or to make your skin darker

catch the sun

to be in a sunny position

catch you later SPOKEN

used for saying goodbye to someone when you expect to see them soon, or later the same day

you won't/wouldn't catch someone doing something

used for saying that it is very unlikely that someone will or would do something:

You wouldn't catch me taking work home every night.

=> ROCK1, SHORT 2

`catch at phrasal verb transitive BRITISH

catch at something to reach out and try to get hold of something

,catch `on phrasal verb intransitive

1. ) to become popular or fashionable:

Sports drinks have caught on as consumers have become more health-conscious.

catch on with: Cruise control initially was thought of as a luxury item, but slowly caught on with car buyers at other levels.

2. ) to understand:

He didn't catch on at first.

catch on to: Then I caught on to what it was the guy was saying.

,catch `out phrasal verb transitive BRITISH

1. ) to show that someone has made a mistake or is not telling the truth, especially by asking them questions

2. ) usually passive to put someone in an unpleasant or difficult situation that they are not prepared for

,catch `up phrasal verb intransitive

1. ) to go faster so that you reach the person or vehicle in front of you:

catch up with: We left first, but they caught up with us.

2. ) to improve in order to reach the same standard or rate as someone or something:

He's missed so much school that he's going to find it very hard to catch up.

catch up with: Pressure grew for salaries to catch up with inflation.

3. ) to do something that should have been done before:

The deadline's tomorrow. How are we ever going to catch up in time?

catch up on: I just want to go home and catch up on some sleep.

catch up with: Employees are struggling to catch up with the backlog.

4. ) to talk to someone you have not seen for some time and find out what they have been doing:

Come over tomorrow and we can catch up.

catch up with: I'll catch up with you another time, Kevin.

It'll give them a chance to talk and catch up with all their news.

,catch `up with phrasal verb transitive catch up with someone

1. ) to find and arrest someone who has committed a crime after searching for them or chasing them:

The police will catch up with you sooner or later.

2. ) to begin to have an effect on someone:

The lack of sleep caught up with her, and she began to doze off.

catch

catch 2 [ kætʃ ] noun *

▸ 1 stopping and holding something

▸ 2 game of throwing ball

▸ 3 hidden problem

▸ 4 something for fastening

▸ 5 amount of fish caught

▸ 6 pause in speech

▸ 7 appropriate partner

1. ) count an act of stopping and holding an object moving through the air, especially a ball:

Well done! Good catch!

2. ) uncount a game in which children throw a ball to each other

3. ) count usually singular a hidden problem or difficulty in something that seems extremely good:

It sounds like a fabulous opportunity, so what's the catch?

It is very cheap, but the catch is that you have to be at the airport at 3 in the morning.

4. ) count an object used for fastening something such as a window, door, or container:

a broken window catch

=> SAFETY CATCH

5. ) count an amount of fish that have been caught:

Catches of Atlantic salmon have declined significantly.

6. ) count MAINLY LITERARY a sudden pause in what someone is saying as a result of a strong emotion:

I love you so much, he said with a catch in his voice.

7. ) count INFORMAL OLD-FASHIONED someone who would be an appropriate husband, wife, or partner:

A penniless writer's not exactly a good catch, is he?