Catch , n.
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.
Shak.
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.
Catch (?), v. i. 1. To
attain possession. [Obs.]
Have is have,
however men do catch.
Shak.
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 (?), v. 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.
Shak.
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.
Hear it pronounced