| 释义 |
▪ I. catch, n.1|kætʃ|
Also 5 cacche, kache, Sc. cach, 5–6 Sc. caich(e. 6 catche, cache, 6–7 katch, 7 Sc. caitche, 7–9 (chiefly in sense 14) ketch.
[f. the vb. (The senses are taken from different uses of the verb, and form no regular series among themselves.)]
1. a. The act or fact of catching in various senses; see the vb.
1580Sidney Arcadia i. (1613) 91 She would faine the catch of Strephon flie. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, lxviii, Demands To Princes made in Catch of Rebel Hands. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 203 She intended to have me, if she could catch, and it was indeed a kind of a catch. 1870Daily News 20 Sept., The French captured a German schooner.. and this wretched little catch called forth an uncommon deal of enthusiasm and cheering. 1884J. Payn Thicker than W. vi. 42 There was a ‘catch’ in her breath. 1887Blackw. Mag. Nov. 692 The young people..play at catch with coloured balls.
†b. to lie (or be) at (the) catch, to lie (or be) upon the catch: to lie in wait; to be on the watch for an opportunity of catching or seizing something, esp. of catching a person's words, finding fault, making objections, etc. Obs.
1630Sibbes Bruised Reed xv. Wks. 1862 I. 68 As one sitting at a catch for all advantages against them. 1642Rogers Naaman 528 As a prisoner..always lies at the catch and opportunity to seeke his escape. 1656H. More Antid. Ath. ii. xi. §7. 75 Scaliger lay at catch with him [Cardan] to take him tripping wherever he could. 1742Richardson Pamela IV. 170, I saw he was upon the Catch, and look'd stedfastly upon me whenever I mov'd my Lips. 1814Jane Austen Lady Susan xiv. (1879) 230 Miss M. is absolutely on the catch for a husband.
c. In Rugby football and baseball (see quots.).
1867[see fair a. 10 d]. 1868H. Chadwick Base Ball 45 A running catch is made when the ball is caught on the fly while the fielder is on the run. 1896R. G. Knowles & Morton Baseball 14 He..must be as proficient in making running catches as in bringing off standing ones. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 431/1 If a player makes a fair catch he shall be awarded a free kick. 1960E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby xiii. 183 The method of making a fair-catch is to make a mark on the ground with the heel as the ball is caught, and to call: ‘Mark!’
d. Rowing. The grip of the water taken with the oar at the beginning of a stroke.
1881Standard 30 Mar. 3/7 The shallow waters of the Cam..make it very difficult for a crew to imitate the catch at the beginning of the stroke. 1898Encycl. Sport II. 296/2 Catch, the instant application of the weight and muscles of legs and body to the oar at the moment it enters the water.
e. In full glottal catch (see glottal a.). Often used as a synonym of the more frequent glottal stop.
1925P. Radin tr. J. Vendryès's Lang. i. i. 30 It is directly after the vowels, when the emission of air is complete, that this catch or ‘stop’ occurs. 1964Crystal & Quirk Prosodic Features in Eng. iii. 43 One flap of tremulousness..is equivalent to a ‘catch’ in the voice (i.e. one flap or brief roll of glottal trill).
2. a. The catching of fish. b. The number of fish caught at one time, or during one season.
1465Mann. & Househ. Exp. 473 To axe of my lord of Duram in yifte the kache of Hangeford. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 377 The expence of fishing must be paid..after which the benefit of the catch is supposed to accrue to the proprietors. 1875Buckland Log-bk. 12 The catch depends very much upon the weather. 1884Stubbs' Merc. Circular 27 Feb. 194/1 The total catch of mackerel by the New England fleet was 236,685 barrels.
c. A crop, esp. one sufficient to render further sowing unnecessary. U.S. colloq.
1868G. Brackett Farm Talk 128 That's one reason why I sowed the field to barley—so as to get a good catch. 1941Harper's Mag. Aug. 329/1 My newly laid down field, where I didn't get a very good catch of grass.
3. Cricket.
a. The act of catching the ball, when struck by the batsman, before it reaches the ground, and so putting him ‘out’. Also, a ball so hit that a fielder may catch it. catch-and-bowl, a catch made by the bowler.
1770J. Love Cricket 17 Weymark unhappily misses a Catch. 1816W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 15 Strikers are generally cautious at first, which will frequently cause a catch. 1837Dickens Pickw. vii, At every bad attempt at a catch..he launched his personal displeasure at the head of the devoted individual in such denunciations as..‘now butter-fingers’. 1886Gurney Phantasms of Living I. 561 His mental condition after just missing a catch. 1888Steel & Lyttelton Cricket iii. 110 A catch in the slips or at point, or a catch and bowl, is not infrequently the result. 1906A. E. Knight Compl. Cricketer iv. 146 Rightly judged by the eye, a catch should drop into the hands. 1907Westm. Gaz. 20 July 15/1 Hence the number of catches-and-bowls he used to bring off.
b. transf. A player who catches well.
1854F. Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers 58 [He is a] beautiful field at long-leg, being a sure catch. 1884Lillywhite's Cricket Ann. 102 H. J. Ford; a safe catch in the long-field.
†4. Sc. A chase, pursuit. Obs.
c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 83 Yee shall rew this race. What was the cause yee gaue mee sic a katch?
†5. Sc. Tennis. (Cf. cachespell.) Obs.
c1475Ratis Raving i. 1245 Ryne at baris, and at the ball, And at the caich play with all. 1496Treasurer's Acc. in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) II. 261 note, To the king in Strivelin, to play at the cach. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 509 James Stewart..playand..wes with his peiris all Than at the catche. 1535Lyndesay Satyre 3411 Thocht I preich not, I can play at the caiche. 1599James I Basil. Doron iii. (1603) 121 Playing at the caitche or tennise.
†6. A trick. Obs.
c1430Lerne or be Lewd in Babees Bk. (1868) 9 Warre Knavis cacches.
7.
†a. A catching or entangling question. Obs.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 86 The catch is so unphilosophical, that that which gainsays it most, is most true. 1693W. Freke Sel. Ess. xii. 62 Most of their arguments..are nothing but a few empty Catches in mere words.
b. A hidden element (in a proposal, etc.) designed to take advantage of another person; something concealed with the intention of catching or tripping one up; hence, an unforeseen difficulty or awkwardness, a ‘snag’.
1855Barnum Life 120 The old farmer, who was pretty 'cute, was sure that there was some ‘catch’ in this offer. 1913Punch 18 June 474/1, I say, I'm a burglar. There is no catch in it. 1914Daily Express 22 Dec. 2 It is not a toy or a ‘catch’, but a genuine game. 1919Wodehouse Damsel in Distress x, There's nobody I think a more corking sportsman than Maud, if you know what I mean, but—this is where the catch comes in—I'm most frightfully in love with somebody else. 1951C. V. Wedgwood Last of Radicals iv. 83 I've just been reading your Henry George..and I..can't see the catch in it.
c. Catch 22: a supposed law or regulation containing provisions which are mutually frustrating (see quot. 1961); a set of circumstances in which one requirement, etc., is dependent upon another, which is in turn dependent upon the first. Freq. attrib., esp. as Catch-22 situation. [f. a paradoxical rule postulated in the novel Catch-22 (1961, released as a film in 1970), by Joseph Heller (b. 1923), U.S. author.
The first chapter of Heller's novel was published in 1955 (New World Writing No. 7 54ff) under the title ‘Catch-18’. For Heller's explanation of why this was changed to Catch-22, see Kiley and MacDonald ‘Catch-22’ Casebook (1973) 294-95.]
1961J. Heller Catch-22 v. There was only one catch, and that was Catch-22... If he flew them [more missions] he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. 1971Atlantic Monthly Mar. 47/2 In the opinion of many sociologists, the ‘combination of diagnosis, evaluation, treatment and classification’ so highly rated by Dr. Karl Menninger is in fact the Catch-22 of modern prison life. 1972Observer (Colour Suppl.) 30 July 15/1 The rest..have to work for one year before they can send for their families, and then only if they can prove they have housing. But, catch 22, they cannot apply for the Government-subsidised housing..unless they have their families with them. 1974Sumter (S. Carolina) Daily Item 22 Apr. 8a/5 His Public Interest Group now finds itself in a Catch 22 situation. It cannot prove the device works without EPA funds, but EPA won't grant the funds unless they prove the device works. 1978Encounter July 74/2 Caught in the Victorian equivalent of Catch 22 he [sc. Tennyson] is made to collude in an ethic which he knows to be repressive. 1980Brit. Med. Jrnl. 29 Mar. 951/1 How best can the profession inject medical advice into the NHS at local level? For the BMA it is a classic Catch 22 dilemma. 1985C. Rycroft Psychoanalysis & Beyond x. 125 A peculiar kind of impossible Catch-22 situation in which children can be caught.
8. Something intended to catch the attention, the popular fancy or demand, etc.
1781Cowper Lett. 5 Mar. Wks. (1876) 66 The passage you objected to I inserted merely by way of catch. 1871S. S. Jordan in Ess. & Lyrics (1878) 204 This is a ha'penny catch.
†9. A catching sight; a glimpse, view. Obs.
1775Johnson in Boswell (1831) III. 258 Such houses as had any catch of the river. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 610 [It] presents to the eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue horizon.
10. concr. That by which anything is caught and held; any contrivance for checking the motion of a piece of mechanism, a door, etc.
1520MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp. Canterb., Payd for a lache and a cache and a stapylle ijd. 1647Ibid. 86 For a katch for my gate jd. 1644Nye Gunnery (1670) 31 These catches, being either of steel or brass. 1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2132/4 A pair of plain Pistols with..one of the Catches broke off from the Lock. 1829Nat. Philos. I. Mechanics ii. vi. 25 (Libr. Usef. Knowl.), The ratchet-wheel and catch. 1851Illust. Lond. News 42 The derrick being supported by a catch or pall. 1882Mallock Soc. Equality viii. 203 A catch attached to the beam of the engine.
11. a. That which is caught or is worth catching; something gained; an acquisition.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 333 No doubt but he hath got a quiet catch. 1606― Tr. & Cr. ii. i. 109 Hector shall haue a great catch, if he knocke out either of your braines; he were as good cracke a fustie nut with no kernell. 1662Dryden Wild Gall. iii. i, The Gentleman had got a great Catch of her, as they say. 1830Galt Lawrie T. iv. ix. (1849) 174 He would be a great catch to the settlement. 1840Marryat Poor Jack li, She..was considered quite a catch at card-parties.
b. colloq. A person matrimonially desirable on account of wealth or position.
[1722Defoe Col. Jack (1723) 240 She intended to have me, if she could catch, and it was indeed a kind of catch.] 1749Cleland Mem. Woman Pleasure II. 215 Your surprize that one of my blood and relish of life, should count a gallant of threescore such a catch. 1835T. Moore Fudge Fam. in Eng. i. 2 Sole encumbrance, Miss Fudge to be taken therewith. Think, my boy, for a Curate how glorious a catch! 1837Marryat Snarleyyow xx, She..fully proved to his satisfaction that, independent of her beauty, she would be a much greater catch than Frau Vandersloosh. 1917H. A. Vachell Fishpingle x, Matrimonially he was no great ‘catch’ for an heiress of quality.
c. Austral. and N.Z. (See quot. 1933.)
1933L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch) 23 Sept. 13/7 Catch. Just before stopping time in a wool shed, a shearer tries to finish the sheep he is on and catch another which he can finish at ease after knock-off. This is called getting a catch. E.g., ‘How many more can you do this run?’—‘Two and a catch.’ 1956G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) 155 Catch, the last sheep of a mob. Very often this sheep produces one extra for the tally of the shearer who shears well enough to catch it first. 1965D. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Ind. i. 7 The ‘bell sheep’, or ‘the catch’ as it is often called, may be an easy one.
†12. The point to be caught or seized. Obs.
1600Holland Livy xxxiv. xxxii. 873 a, I will not use many words..but come to the very catch and point of the matter.
†13. A fragment or scrap of anything caught up; ‘a snatch; a short interval of action’ (J.).
a1626Bacon (J.) All which notions are but ignorant catches of a few things, which are most obvious to mens observations. 16..Locke (J.) It has been writ by catches, with many intervals. 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. i. 10 We retain a catch of these pretty stories. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 362 Down she sat, and sung a little Catch, and cry'd Hem! twice. 1830T. Hamilton Cyril Thornton (1845) 78, I made speeches, and roared catches of songs.
14. Music. Originally, a short composition for three or more voices, which sing the same melody, the second singer beginning the first line as the first goes on to the second line, and so with each successive singer; a round. ‘The catch was for each succeeding singer to take up or catch his part in time’ (Grove). Subsequently specially applied to rounds in which the words are so arranged as to produce ludicrous effects, one singer catching at the words of another. Also attrib. and in comb., as catch-club, catch-maker.
1601Cornwallyes Ess. ii. xliii. (1631) 207 Like a singing catch, some are beginning when others are ending. a1613Overbury A Wife (1638) 217 The wakefull ketches on Christmas Eve. [1625Bacon Masques & Tri., Ess. (Arb.) 539 Seuerall Quires..taking the Voice by Catches, Antheme wise.] 1636Featly Clavis Myst. xxvii. 343 Singing as it were a catch, and taking the word one from another. 1721Addison Spect. No. 72 ⁋9 Several old Catches, which they sing at all Hours. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. viii. 56. a 1859 Macaulay Biog. (1867) 5 Dean Aldrich, a divine now chiefly remembered by his catches. 1787Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ode upon Ode Wks. 1794 I. 385 note, Though not a Purcell..a very pretty catch-maker. 1807W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 197 Straddle was..a member of a catch-club.
¶ Sense obscure.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 252 Thou Horson obscene greasie Tallow Catch.
▪ II. † catch, n.2 Obs.
Forms: 5–7 cache, 6–7 catch, 7 katch, 7– ketch, q v.
[ME. cache; prob. f. catch v. or n.1 The later ketch is analogous to keg for cag, kennel for cannel, etc.
It may be the n. catch1 (in ME. cach(e) in sense 4 ‘chase, pursuit’, as yacht is Du. jagt, jacht ‘chase, pursuit’, for jachtschip, jageschip, in reference to its swiftness.]
A strongly-built vessel of the galiot order, usually two-masted, and of from 100 to 250 tons burden; = ketch.
1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. (1841) 397 Rede oker to send be watyr with the sayd hoppes, in Ferdes cache of Brekemlynsey. 1561Eden Art Navig. Pref., Fyshermen that go a trawlyng for fyshe in Catches or mongers. 1580Sir R. Bingham in Spenser's Wks. (Grosart) I. 468 A small catch or craer of Sir William Wynters. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 23 The river..is navigable..with Catches and small Barkes 30 or 40 myles farther. 1625Sir J. Glanville Voy. Cadiz (1883) 116 Catches, being short and round built, bee verie apt to turne up and downe, and usefull to goe to and fro, and to carry messages between shipp and shipp almost with anie wind. 1642Nicholas Let. in Carte Coll. (1735) 89 Sir John Hotham hath lately apprehended..one of the King's caches. a1693Urquhart Rabelais iii. lii. 429 Catches, Capers, and other Vessels.
▪ III. † catch, n.3
obs. f. kedge, small anchor.
1791Smeaton Edystone L. §143 We immediately let go another small anchor or Catch..paying out the hawser of the catch-anchor.
▪ IV. catch, v.|kætʃ|
Pa. tense and pple. caught |kɔːt|. Forms: 2–4 cache(n, 3 Orm. kæchenn, kecchen, 3–4 cacchen, 4 kachen, 4–5 kache, cacche, kacche, 4–6 cach, catche, 5 kach, katche, cachche, cahch, 5–6 cache, 6 Sc. caucht; (also 3–4 keche, 5 kecche, ceche, 6 ketch(e), 6– catch, (9 dial. cotch). pa. tense a. 4 cached, katched, 5 cacchid, -it, cacht, 6– catched, 7–8 catch'd, catcht. β. 3 Orm. cahhte, 3–4 cahte, cauhte, 3–5 caȝte, kaȝte, 4–5 cauȝte, kauȝte, (kaufte), caȝt, kaȝt, cauȝt, kauȝt, cawght, 5 caghte, kaghte, caute, caght, kaght, kaught, coght, cought, 4–6 caughte, 5– caught; (also 3 (bi) -kehte, keihte, 5 keȝte, 6 keight.) pa. pple. α. 3 Orm. (bi)- cæchedd, 4–5 cached, -id, cacchit, katched, 5 cacchid, cachet, 5–6 cachit, kachit, 6 cacchide, catchte), 6–9 catcht, catched, (7 catch't), 7–8 catch'd, (9 dial. cotcht, cotch'd). β. 3 (bi)- kahht, icaht, 4 caht, cauht, ycauȝt, ikauȝt, kawht, cawght, (kight), 4–5 caȝt, cauȝt, cought, 5 caght, kaght, (caut, keghet), (6 caughte, y-, i-caught, caucht), 5– caught.
[ME. cache-n, cacche-n, a. ONF. cachier (3rd sing. pr. cache), = central OF. chacier, later chassier, mod.F. chasser (Picard cacher) = Pr. cassar, Sp. cazar (OSp. cabzar), Pg. caçar, It. cacciare:—late L. *captiāre, f. capt-us ‘taken captive’, which took in Romanic the place of L. captāre ‘to strive to seize, seek to catch, lie in wait for’, and in late use = venāri ‘to hunt, chase’, which is the sense in all the Romanic langs. This sense was also original in Eng.; and continued in Scotch to 16th c. (see sense 1); but for this the central OF. chacier, chace was adopted in form chace-n by 1300, and catch was gradually confined to its present sense, which is unknown to French and the other langs., but is that of OE. læcc(e)an, ME. lacchen, lachen. With the latter, cachen seems to have been very early treated as synonymous, and at length entirely took its place. Hence, app. the pa. tense cahte, cauhte, cauȝte, caught, like lahte, lauhte, lauȝte, laught, which was used along with the regular cacched, catchte, catched, and during the present century has superseded it in literary use (though catched, cotched is still widely prevalent in dial. or vulgar speech).]
I.
†1. trans. To chase, to drive. Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 949 Gredi foueles fellen ðor-on..abram..kaȝte is [= them] wei. c1305Disp. Mary & Cross 102 in Leg. Rood 134 Þe Jewes from þe cros me keiȝt. 1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 120 Mald þorgh þe Lundreis fro London is katched. 138.Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 364 Þis is vois made of þe fend bi which he cacchiþ on his carte. 1440York Myst. xlviii. 326 Caytiffis ȝe cacched [Townley Myst. chaste] me feo youre ȝate. 1499Promp. Parv. 58 (Pynson) Catchyn [1440 chasyn] or dryue forth bestis, mino. 1513Douglas æneis i. i. 4 Our land and see cachit [jactatus] with mekle pyne.
†2. intr. To chase, run, hasten; to press on.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. B. 629 He cached to his cob-hous & a calf bryngez. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1794 Kysse me now comly, & I schal cach heþen. c1400Destr. Troy 2014 Þai..kachyn on kyndly, & þaire course held. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1513 Hercules..with hys stubborne mace That made Cerberus to cache.
II. To capture, esp. that which tries to escape; hence, to ensnare, surprise, overtake, reach, get at.
†3. trans. To take forcible possession of, capture (a town, castle, ship, country, etc.). Obs.
c1205Lay. 4547 Monie scipen he þer cahte. 1382Wyclif 2 Kings xiv. 7 And he cauȝte [1388 took] the place, that hatte Petra, in bateyl. c1400Destr. Troy 1467 To cache a castell þat was kene holdyn. Ibid. 9766 Carles þaire cuntre cacht as þaire aune. 1535Coverdale Judg. v. 12 Catch him yt catched the, thou sonne of Abinoam.
4. esp. To capture or lay hold of (that which tries or would try to escape, as a man or animal). This may be done by superior speed and force, by surprise, by any snare or engine of capture. (The proper word for this action, which is also its main sense, and lies at the base of most of the others.)
c1205Lay. 31501 Ȝif he me mihte cacchen [1275 cache] he me wolde quellen. a1225Ancr. R. 294 Capite nobis uulpes paruulas..keccheð us..þe ȝunge uoxes. c1325Pol. Songs 152 He may scape ant we aren ever caht. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 185 They cowde nat..Here capil cacche, it ran away so fast. ― Melib. ⁋212 He..setteth a nette byfore his feet to cacchen him. 1393Gower Conf. III. 258 As the tigre his time awaiteth In hope for to cacche his pray. c1400Destr. Troy 12993 He purpost hym priuely..at his comyng to kacche hym olyue. 1486Bk. St. Albans E viij a, Theys houndes all Bayen and cryen when thay hym ceche shall. 1593Tell-trothe's N.Y. Gift 35 The siliest creatures are seldome catcht in ordinary trappes. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 65 Some dogs will catch well. 1607― Cor. i. iii. 66, I saw him run after a gilded Butterfly, & when he caught it, he let it go againe, and after it againe..& catcht it again. 1642Rogers Naaman 375 He had fished all night and catcht nothing. 1672–5T. Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 91 Some silly Bird..suddenly catcht in the Fowler's snare. 1713C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 96 Till thinking Thee to've catched, Himself by thee was caught. 1716Let. in Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 143 He catched four or five of the rebels that were lurking in Angus. 1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 14 Small birds..caught in a singular manner. 1815Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 435 One might almost say they would come to be catched. 1847Tennyson Princ. v. 105 Like tender things that being caught feign death. 1866N. & Q. Ser. iii. IX. 498/1 True amphibians, catching their prey in the water.
fig.1715Burnet Own Time II. 43 He was early catched by the Jesuits and bred many years among them.
5. fig. To ensnare, entrap; to deceive, ‘take in’.
1382Wyclif 1 Cor. iii. 19, I schal catche wyse men in her fell wysdom. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. 189 Othir lordis he cacchid, or caute, with fayre wordes. 1611Bible Mark xii. 13 To catch him in his words. 1654Cromwell Sp. 4 Sept. (Carlyle) For few have been catched by the former mistakes. 1699Bentley Phal. 283 To see how Error is propagated, even Petavius too was caught here. 1887Manch. Guard. 8 Mar. 8 With a dollar only minted in London..someone would be ‘caught’.
†6. fig. To obtain by exertion (viewed as a race or chase); to attain, get possession of. Obs.
1382Wyclif 1 Tim. vi. 12 Catche euerlastyng lyf [Tindale, Coverd. laye honde on; Rhem. apprehend; 1611 lay hold on]. c1420Metr. Life St. Kath. (Halliw.) 19 Many have there kaght ther heele. 1561J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 61 A feruent zeale to follow and catch thy saluation. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 179, I..Torment my selfe, to catch the English Crowne. 1605― Macb. i. vii. 3 If th' Assassination Could..catch With his surcease, Successe.
†b. in a weaker sense: To gain or obtain (e.g. money) by one's own action. Obs. (Cf. 29, 38.)
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 168 For no cause to cacche siluer þere-by. 1393Gower Conf. II. 202 Where they the profit mighten cacche. c1550Bale K. Johan (1838) 17 Besydes what ye cacche for halowed belles & purgatorye.
7. To overtake, come up with (an agent in motion). Now more usually to catch up.
1610Shakes. Temp. v. i. 315 Saile, so expeditious, that shall catch Your Royall fleete farre off. 1678Littleton Lat. Dict., To catch or overtake one, assequor, apprehendo. 1791‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. xii. (1809) 115 He made a loose..and catch'd them, within twenty yards of the ending post. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxvii, You'll be down the river in no time, and catch Will, I'll be bound.
b. To reach, get to (a person or thing before it moves away); as in ‘to catch a train, a boat, the post, etc.’, where the idea of being in time enters in. (The opposite is to miss, lose.)
1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iv. iii. 146, I was afraid my note might not have caught you. 1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne I. xiii. 220, I shall be able to catch the Sandgate train. 1872Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 232 The tourist may..walk..to the Bassenthwaite station, and there catch the train. 1879Daily News 12 Dec. 5/3 The popular pastime known as ‘catching a train’..The number of disappointed train-catchers.. reached a daily total of ten. Mod. I must finish my letter in time to catch the post.
8. Said of rain, a storm, etc., which overtakes one before reaching one's destination. Most frequently in the pass.; const. usually in.
1712Addison Spect. No. 317 ⁋9 Caught in a Shower..Returned home and dryed my self. 1758Johnson Idler No. 33 ⁋19 Catched in a shower coming back. 1791Smeaton Edystone L. §111 The stone vessels, if catched by a storm..retreat into Weymouth Harbour. Mod. We were caught in the rain. The rain caught us just as we had reached the shoulder of the hill.
9. a. To come upon suddenly or unexpectedly; to surprise, detect (a person in or at some action, or doing something).
1610B. Jonson Alch. v. iii, What shall I doe? I am catch'd. 1650Baxter Saints' Rest ii. (1662) Pref. 175 His Adversaries would soon have catched him in it. 1712Steele Spect. No. 466 ⁋3, I catched her once..at Chuck-Farthing among the Boys. a1734North Exam. iii. viii. ⁋13. 591 They will be caught napping. 1772Johnson in Boswell (1816) II. 162, I never catched Mallet in a Scotch accent. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. vii, My sister catching him in the act. 1883Lloyd Ebb & Flow II. 94, I used to catch myself saying ‘Where's Frank?’
b. pass. (Always in pa. tense or as pa. pple.) To become pregnant. Also caught out. colloq.
1858Queen Victoria Let. 15 June in Dearest Child (1964) 115 The pride of giving life to an immortal soul is very fine..perfectly furious as I was to be caught. 1919M. Stopes Let. to Working Mothers 4 Very often it happens that you get ‘caught’, and you know that the baby that you feared might come has really begun. 1935E. Bowen House in Paris ii. ix. 202 Being caught is the word for having a child, sometimes. 1955‘C. Brown’ Lost Girls xiii. 142 She's been caught..she's about five months gone. 1957J. Osborne Look Back in Anger i. 29 I'm pregnant. After three years of married life, I have to get caught out now.
†10. To reach, attain, arrive at (a goal). Obs.
1393Gower Conf. II. 387 Till they the haven of Troie caught.
11. To reach or get at (any one) with a blow. Said also of the missile, etc. To hit (as opposed to miss). (The part reached is introduced by some prep.)
1583Golding Calvin on Deut. clvi. 965 Wee must not thinke to escape the scourges of God..wee shall euer bee caught by the backe if God bee against vs. 1834Gentl. Mag. Dec. II. 587/2 In the act of catching the Saint with the hot iron under the right ear. 1885Manch. Exam. 10 Jan. 5/1 [The missile] caught him on the side of the head. Mod. She caught him a sounding box on the ear.
III. To seize and keep hold of.
12. a. To take hold of suddenly or forcibly; to grasp, seize.
a1225Ancr. R. 102 Hweðer þe cat of helle..cauhte, mid his cleafres, hire heorte heaued? c1340Cursor M. 18379 Oure lord by the hond Adam cawght. c1400Destr. Troy 13508 Wele his cosyn he knew, & kaght hym in armys. 1530Palsgr. 723/2, I snappe at a thyng to catche it with my tethe. 1596Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 30 Betwixt her feeble armes her quickly keight. 1611Bible Matt. xiv. 31 Iesus stretched foorth his hand, and caught him. 1676Hobbes Iliad ii. 284 The Serpent catched her by the wing. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxi, I caught the dear forlorn wretch in my arms. 1842Tennyson Day-Dream 49 The page has caught her hand in his. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. iv, He may throw him, if he catches him fairly above the waist.
b. Rowing. To grip the water with the oar at (the beginning of a stroke).
1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 32/1 The oar should be struck down firmly and decisively into the water.., and the weight of the body be thrown entirely upon it, by which the beginning of the stroke is caught. 1898Encycl. Sport II. 273/2 The beginning must be caught with full power. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 307/2 Swivel rowlocks..are considered unsuitable to eight-oared rowing, where the beginning of the stroke has to be firmly and smartly caught.
c. Of a crop: to germinate and grow. U.S. (Cf. catch n.1 2 c.)
1843W. Oliver Eight Months in Illinois 95 Putting in hayseed without ploughing the ground... The seed catches quick and grows well.
13. fig. To seize, seize on, lay hold on, affect violently. Obs. exc. as in 14.
1382Wyclif Micah iv. 9 Sorewe hath cachid thee. 1426Audelay Poems 13 Thai be caȝt with covetyse. 1539Taverner Erasm. Prov. 10 Whan..the disease catcheth ones strength. 1601Holland Pliny I. 127 Beyond the riuer Ganges..the people are caught with the Sun, and begin to be blackish. 1604Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 90 Perdition catch my Soule, But I do loue thee. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §216 (1810) 225 You have taken the cold, or the cold hath caught you. 1789Wolcott (P. Pindar) Expost. Odes iii, Perdition catch the money-grasping wretch!
†b. intr. to catch to: to seize on. Obs. rare—1.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 50 Fore careful colde þat to me caȝt.
14. Of fire: To seize on, lay hold of, attack. Also in wider application.
1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. ii. 392 The fire catched all the engines. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxi, The flames were just catching the bed. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. xii. vi. 167 The fire caught many houses. 1925G. L. Mallory in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 213 The wind and sun between them have fairly caught us all these last three days.
b. intr. To seize on anything; to be communicated, spread; also fig.
1560Bible (Genev.) Ex. xxii. 6 If fire breake out, and catch in the thornes. 1634Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. xxvi, Let but some spark of heretical opinion be let fall upon some..busy spirit, it catcheth instantly. 1713Addison Cato ii. vi. 37 Does the sedition catch from man to man, And run among their ranks? 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 136 The Fire that may chance to catch in the Chimney. 1814Southey Carmen Triumph. xv, The flame hath caught, the flame is spread!
†15. intr. To set in fairly, begin. Obs. rare.
1686Goad Celest. Bodies ii. ii. 168 Rains when they once Catch, are apt to last.
16. trans.
†a. To fasten, attach. Obs. rare—1.
c1400Destr. Troy 1077 Cogges with cablis [they] cachyn to londe.
b. To fasten, attach (some object) back or up.
1893Funk's Stand. Dict., To catch up, to raise by attaching something; festoon; loop up; as, her dress was caught up with ribbons. 1898Daily News 11 May 4/4 [Her] rose-tinted brocaded train was caught back at one side.
17. To lay hold of and detain; to grip, entangle; said of merely physical action.
1611Bible Gen. xxii. 13 A Ramme caught in a thicket by his hornes. 1644Evelyn Diary (Chandos) 99 A chayre which catches any who sitts doune in it so as not to be able to stirr out. 1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. (1711) II. 43 The Ships..are often catcht between [the Ice-fields], and broken by them. 1734tr. Rollin's Rom. Hist. III. 402 His arms were catched in the trunk of the trees.
b. To fasten or hold with a catch.
1881Greener Gun 160 The Vernier is..catched under the sliding bar.
18. intr. (for refl.) To be laid hold of and detained; to become entangled or fixed.
1787‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 12 His foot catching and hanging in the stirrup. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 84 The scythe end caught in the rigging. Mod. The bolt would not catch.
¶ to catch hold: see 45. IV. Less forcibly: To take.
†19. trans. To take hold of, to take. Often with off, forth, etc. Obs.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 237 [She] caȝte of her coroun of grete tresore. 1382Wyclif Prov. xxxi. 19 Hir fingris caȝten the spindle. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1850 Pryvely she kaught forthe a knyfe. 1393Gower Conf. I. 291 He tho cought A yerde, which he bare on honde..and smote hem. 1605Camden Rem. 18 So they called parchment which wee have catcht from the Latine Pergamentum. 1626Donne Serm. 37 And so the Roman Church hath catched a Trans and others a Con and a Sub and an In, and varied their poetry into a Transubstantiation and a Consubstantiation and the rest. 1667Marvell Corr. xxxvi. Wks. 1872–5 II. 82 Strange reasons..which must be catched or waived.
†b. In several fig. uses (chiefly poetical): to catch leave, catch courage, catch council, catch the field; to catch haste. Obs.
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1118 Þay..Kysten ful comlyly, & kaȝten her leue. c1350Will. Palerne 1053. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋615 Agayns this..synne of accidie..schulden men..manly and vertuously cacchin corrage wel to doo. c1400Destr. Troy 3192 Counsell was kaght of knightes & oþer. Ibid. 8285 Thre thousaund full þro þrang into batell..kaghten the fild. 1513Douglas æneis iii. x. 51 The scherp dreide maide ws so to cache haist.
20. fig. To take, get (rest, sleep, breath, etc.). Obs. in simple sense; in mod. use implying something momentary or sudden, and passing into next branch.
c1325Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy) xxviii, For to cache his rest. c1330Pol. Songs 331 Anon therafter he fondeth to kacche reste. 1393Gower Conf. II. 111 That I may cacche slepe. 1513Douglas æneis ix. v. 3 The othir bestis..Ful sownd on sleip dyd cawcht thair rest. 1684Gt. Frost 10 The prentices starv'd at home for want of coals To catch them a heat do flock thither in shoals. 1733Pope Ess. Man iii. 18 By turns we catch the vital breath, and die. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 24 Old women, overpowered by heat..Seeking.. the mole-hill seat, To tell their tales and catch their breath awhile. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton vii, Before she could catch a wink of sleep. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. 54 Catching cat-naps as I could in the day.
V. To snatch.
21. To lay hold of forcibly and take away; to snatch, esp. in catch away, catch up, q.v.
c1525Vox populi 91 in Hazl. E.E.P. III. 271 All men..Which can ketche any lande Out of the poore mans hande. 1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices iii. (1558) 122 If euery one of us catche to himselfe the commodities of other. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 88 Upstart Passions catch the Government From Reason. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 236 He..hastily caught His bundle..and went his way.
†22. intr. To make a sudden motion in order to lay hold; to make a snatch. Obs. exc. as in 23.
1597J. King Jonas (1618) 188 It is not for vs to catch after death. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 83 How she [a cat] beggeth, playeth, leapeth, looketh, catcheth. 1642R. Carpenter Experience v. xviii. 315 Catching and scraping for mony. 1642Fuller Holy and Prof. St. ii. x. 92 Mercy is a Grace which they hold the fastest, that most catch after it.
b. fig. To carp, criticize. (Cf. also 5.)
1628Earle Microcosm. (Arb.) 43 He comes..not to learne, but to catch.
23. to catch at: to snatch at; to make a quick or eager attempt to lay hold of; often fig. (Also with indirect passive.) Cf. 25 b.
1601Cornwallyes Ess. ii. xxvii. (1631) 20 Fearing they would be catcht at. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 215 Sawcie Lictors Will catch at vs like Strumpets. 1721–33Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xx. 57 We hunted for praise from impiety, and catched at commendation from al kind of wickednes. 1782Cowper Gilpin 198 Catching at his rein.
VI. To intercept and lay hold of a thing in its course.
24. trans. To seize or intercept (anything) in its passing through the air, or in falling.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie (Arb.) 239 We do..catch the ball..before it come to the ground. 1684T. Burnet Th. Earth I. 59 They might be catcht and stopt..in their descent. 1711Addison Spect. No. 160 ⁋11 Tossing up Eggs, and catching them again without breaking them. 1734G. Sale Koran Prelim. Disc. §1 (Chandos) 3 To use rain-water which they catch in cisterns. 1849Laws Cricket in ‘Bat’ Cricket Man. (1850) 56 A ball being caught, no run shall be reckoned. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. i. (1882) 37/3. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. xxx. (1878) 523 Find a basin or plate..and put it to catch the drop here.
b. fig.
1611Bible 1 Kings xx. 33 The men did diligently obserue whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it.
c. Cricket. to catch (a person) out, also simply to catch: to put (a batsman) ‘out’ by catching the ball when struck by his bat. Also absol., to make a catch. to catch and bowl: usu. in pa. tense caught and bowled, caught by the bowler; also as ppl. a. and n.
1712Devil & Peers (Broadside) in W. J. Lewis Lang. Cr. (1934) 44 I'll catch them both out in three or four stroaks. 1744Laws [of Cricket] in New Dict. Arts & Sci. (1755) IV. 3459/2 So as to hinder the bowler from catching her. 1746in ‘Bat’ Cricket Man. (1850) 80 Newland..15 c[aught by] Ld. J. Sackville. 1850Ibid. 46 If a striker is caught out, state the fieldsman's name. 1873R. A. Fitzgerald Wickets in West 287 Gilbert..was also caught and bowled by Eastwood. 1883in Daily Tel. 15 May 2/7 Peate..caught and bowled Hearn. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 245/2 Caught and Bowled, caught by the bowler who delivered the ball. 1904P. F. Warner Recov. Ashes v. 78 Rhodes missed catching and bowling Gregory. 1924J. B. Hobbs Cricket Mem. 169 Then Mr. Simms got rid of Woolley with a magnificent ‘caught and bowled’. 1950W. Hammond Cricketers' School v. 52, I have seen Larwood take some of the speediest single-handed caught-and-bowled catches ever put up on any cricket field. 1956R. Alston Test Commentary xvi. 136 A ‘caught-and-bowled’ off a hard hit from May.
d. Similarly in Baseball, to catch (a person) out.
1858F. Pigeon in A. G. Spalding Amer. Nat. Game (1911) iv. 61 Next man got scared; caught out. 1874Chadwick Base Ball Man. 88 There he was when Mills was caught out on the fly. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 160/2 In base-ball if the ball is knocked in a certain direction it is called a foul, and the player who knocked it has not the privilege of making a run, but may be caught out.
e. Baseball. trans. To catch the pitcher's deliveries. intr. To act as catcher.
1865Wilkes' Spirit of Times (N.Y.) 8 July 301/1 Wansley caught behind in a handsome manner. 1887Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Ky.) 26 May 2/6 Young Love Cross caught Ramsey in fine style, and Greer also handled Porter's delivery as well as could be desired. 1890W. Carleton City Legends 39 ‘An' will you pitch or catch?’ Says I, ‘I'll catch, if so desired’.
25. To lay hold of (an opportunity) as it occurs.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xix. 3 Thinking that they hadde caughte nowe an occasion. 1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. Ep. Ded., We..catched the Opportunity to write of old Things. 1734Fielding Quix. in Eng. ii. iv, His design is to rob the house, if he could catch an opportunity. a1764Lloyd Voltaire's Henriade Wks. 1774 II. 224 The Guises..Catch'd the fair moment which his weakness gave. 1791Smeaton Edystone L. §278 The first opportunity he could catch after the violent storm.
b. intr. with at. Cf. 23.
c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 202 You catch at all opportunities. 1833H. Martineau Berkeley the B. i. iii. 49 Martin caught at the idea.
26. to catch one's breath: to check the breath suddenly; see breath 5 b.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 371 A greeuous sicknesse..That makes him gaspe, and stare, and catch the aire, Blaspheming. 1833,1864[see breath 5 b]. 1855Tennyson Maud i. xiv. iv, I..Felt a horror.. Prickle my skin and catch my breath. 1859― Elaine 620 She caught her breath.
27. To check, interrupt in speaking. (Now only with up (54 d); colloq.; cf. take up.)
1670Cotton Espernon iii. xii. 623 Not that I do (he presently caught himself) in the least confess, etc. a1726Penn Wks. I. App. 233 Saying one Day thus..he immediately catch'd himself, and fell into this Reflection.
28. A nail, hook, projecting corner, or the like, is said to catch anything which comes against it in passing, and is stopped or retarded by it.
1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) V. xiv. 380 His robe being catched by a bramble. 1791Smeaton Edystone L. §250 Our stone vessels were liable to be catched by the keel in going out. 1880Black White Wings II. i. 15 The back sweep of the oars sometimes caught the waves.
VII. To get or take a thing passively, through being in its way.
†29. To receive, get, obtain, derive (from or by another's action). Obs. exc. as in next.
c1205Lay. 10843 Hu he hauede þene nome icaht. a1225Ancr. R. 154 Neuer ȝet i monne floc ne keihte he swuche biȝete. c1350Will. Palerne 5267 Sone þei cauȝt cumfort. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 134 Þe cardinales at court þat cauȝt han such a name. c1400Destr. Troy 2155 Myche comforth he caght or þaire kynd speche.
30. esp. To get, receive, incur (something injurious or unpleasant). Now chiefly in colloquial language, esp. in phr. to catch one's death (of cold) (cf. 42), catch a mischief, and catch it (see 41).
a1225Ancr. R. 66 Heo hunteð efter pris, & keccheð lastunge. Ibid. 88 Wo is me þet he, oðer heo, habbeð swuch word ikeiht. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 375 Rychard caȝte þer hys deþ. c1330Amis & Amil. 2455 All that thei there lafte, Grete strokes there thei caufte. c1420Avow. Arth. xvi, As he hade keghet scathe. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliii. 290 Ther he caught deths wounde. 1537W. T. Expos. St. John 79 They be taken tardy and ketch a fall. a1593H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 148 Always climbing till we catch a fall. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 23 Fight closer, or..you'le catch a Blow. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 84 He..went by, and catcht no hurt. 1712Addison Spect. No. 517 ⁋2, I am afraid he caught his Death the last County Sessions. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton iv. 40, I will not allow Bell to catch her death of cold. 1904‘G. B. Lancaster’ Sons o' Men xvi. 204 Don't you dare take him till I get some more clothes on him! He'd catch his death! 1951G. Greene End of Affair v. vii. 215 She had walked in the rain seeking a refuge and ‘catching her death’ instead.
31. To receive, incur, or contract, through exposure; as † to catch heat (obs.), to catch the breeze. (Cf. also to catch cold, 42.)
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 28 Þer it cacheþ hete. c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 781 As a white walle or a table..ys redy to cachche and take Al that men wil theryn make. 1535Coverdale Matt. xiii. 6 Whan the Sonne arose it caught heate. 1700Addison Lett. Italy Wks. (1721) 133 To catch the breeze of breathing air. 1704Worlidge Dict. Rust. et Urb. s.v. October, Least the Carnations catch too much wet. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 47 Ye lakes, whose vessels catch the busy gale. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxxiv, His face had caught..the ghastly foreshadowing of Death. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 231 [The] tops [of the hills] were catching the first rays of the rising sun.
b. ellipt. To catch the wind (Naut.); to catch fire; to catch frost, begin to freeze.
1794Rigging & Seamansh. II. 292 Her sails begin to catch a-back. 1825in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 1378 The powder soon may catch. 1879Jefferies Wild Life S.C. 382 Causing the water to catch—that is, the slender, thread-like spicules form on the surface, and, joining together, finally cover it. 1886F. C. Philips Jack & Three Jills I. vii. 96 We arrived at the lake to find it was caught over, scantily, but with promise of skating to come.
†32. To conceive, become affected by or inspired with (a desire or emotion). Obs. exc. as in 34.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1746 [He] caughte to this lady swich desyr. c1430Lydg. Bochas i. xiv. (1554) 27 a, She caught an indignation. c1570Thynne Pride & Lowl. (1841) 5 Love, or feare, Which any wight..hath icaught. 1715–20Pope Iliad xv. 439 Presumptuous Troy..catch'd new fury at the voice divine.
33. To take or contract (a disease); to take by infection (of or from). (See also to catch cold 42.)
1547Boorde Introd. Knowl. 126 If I do go barlegged, I do cach the coffe. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 314 Euen so quickly may one catch the plague? 1611― Wint. T. i. ii. 386, I cannot name the Disease, and it is caught Of you. 1667Milton P.L. x. 544 They..the dire form Catcht by Contagion. 1747Berkeley Tar-water in Plague Wks. III. 480 Useful to prevent catching the small-pox. 1806Med. Jrnl. XV. 219 The small-pox raging here, he caught the infection from some neighbouring children.
34. fig. To take up as by infection; to acquire by sympathy or imitation; to become imbued or infected with (accent, tone, spirit, etc.).
1590Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 189 My tongue should catch your tongues sweet melodie. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 409 Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own, But catch the spreading notion of the town. 1747Hervey Medit. & Contempl. (1818) 103 Who can forbear catching the general joy? 1778Robertson Hist. Amer. I. ii. 112 He seemed to have catched the same spirit with his subjects. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton ix, She ‘caught the trick of grief, and sighed’. 1857Maurice Ep. St. John i. 3.
VIII. To seize by the senses or intellect.
35. a. To apprehend by the senses or intellect; to hear, see, etc., by an effort; to succeed in hearing, seeing, understanding, etc.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 70 Euery obiect that [his eye] doth catch. 1606― Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 144 Cleopatra catching but the least noise of this, dies instantly. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, Listening to catch the glorious sounds. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. II. iv. 78 You cannot from the rapidity and carelessness of his utterance catch what he says. 1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857) I. 24 It does not appear..easy to catch his exact meaning. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton x. (1882) 26/2 Catching the state of the case with her quick..eyes. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 58, I only caught the words, ‘Shall we let him off?’
b. To watch (a theatrical performance or television programme); to listen to (a concert, etc.).
1906H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 150 Where are you on the bill at Moctor's this week? I must come in an' ketch you guys. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 45/2, I caught Wright's band last night and are they tough. 1965Listener 7 Oct. 551/2 This modest programme..was the kind of late-evening music item that is so often well worth catching. 1969Oxf. Times 15 Aug. 13/1 You can have a cigarette or a drink, read the newspaper or catch the television news.
36. To apprehend so as to adopt or appropriate; as, e.g. a musician ‘catches’ a melody, or an artist the expression of a face.
1605Shakes. Macb. i. v. 19 Thy nature..is too full o' th' Milke of humane kindnesse, To catch the neerest way. 1753H. Walpole Corr. (1837) I. 210 Sir Christopher Wren who built the tower of the great gate-way at Christ Church has catched the graces of it as happily as you could do. 1805Scott Last Minstr. Introd. 87 When he caught the measure wild. 1883Lloyd Ebb & Fl. II. 256 The attitude had evidently been caught from life.
IX. To arrest the attention, mind, fancy, etc.
37. To arrest the attention of (a person); to captivate, charm. Cf. take, fetch.
c1386Chaucer Doctor's T. 127 So was he caught wiþ beaute of þis mayde. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 77 Beauty and Honour in her are so mingled, That they haue caught the King. a1700Dryden (J.) The soothing arts that catch the fair. 1771Junius Lett. lxi. 319 A concession merely to catch the people. 1850Browning Easter Day xxxiii, She still each method tries To catch me.
b. To arrest (a faculty or organ of sense—attention, affection, sight; eye, ear, etc.).
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 183 Things in motion sooner catch the eye. 1712Hughes Spect. No. 467 ⁋5 It is below him to catch the Sight with any Care of Dress. 1736Butler Anal. i. v. 131 Any one of a thousand objects, catching his eye. 1777Sir W. Jones Seven Fount. 44 Melodious notes..caught with sweet extasy his ravish'd heart. 1806Med. Jrnl. XV. 228, I hope this paper may catch his eye. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 46 The figurative style of my language caught the excited imagination of Leslie. 1832H. Martineau Homes Abr. vii. 100 A rustle outside the door..caught her excited ear. 1874Blackie Self-Cult. 24 A card, with a few leading words to catch the eye.
38. fig. To obtain, get (money, etc.) by attracting the popular fancy or by similar means; with a mixture of senses 5, 6 b, 24 and 37.
1377[see 6 b]. 1662Gerbier Princ. 17 The various devices of Smiths, to catch Money out of the Builders Purses. 1833Chamb. Jrnl. No. 72. 156 Every lure is set, every trap is baited, to catch the contents of the Cockney's purse. 1886Morley Voltaire 160 He sought to catch some crumb of praise.
X. Phrases.
39. a. catch that catch may, catch as catch can, etc.: phrases expressing laying hold of in any way, each as he can. Also as n. and attrib.
1393Gower Conf. III. 240 Was none in sight But cacche who that cacche might. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 171 Catch that catch may. 1611Cotgr., Griffe, graffe, by hooke or by crooke..catch that catch may. 1616Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady i. i. Men, women, and all woo: catch that catch may. 1752Johnson Rambl. No. 197 ⁋3 In a world where all must catch that catch can. 1764K. O'Hara Midas iii. 62 There's catch as catch can, hit or miss Luck is all, And Luck's the best tune of life's Toll lol de roll. a1777S. Foote in M. Edgeworth Harry & Lucy Concluded (1825) II. 153 They all fell to playing the game of catch as catch can, till the gun powder ran out at the heels of their boots. 1936World Film News Sept. 4/1 The present catch-as-catch can method of entry. 1949R. Harvey Curtain Time 130 The production was usually a hurried, catch-as-catch-can affair. 1958G. Barker Two Plays 23 Davy Jones and his daughter at catch-as-catch-can. 1959Manchester Guardian 14 July 7/1 Tonight's papers are full of catch-as-catch-can interviews with the..survivors.
b. catch-as-catch-can, the Lancashire style of wrestling. Also attrib. and transf.
[1617Middleton & Rowley Fair Quarrel ii, I'le wrastle with any man for a good supper... I'le take your part there, catch that catch may.] 1889W. Armstrong Wrestling Introd. p. xiv, In 1871, the late Mr. J. G. Chambers..endeavoured to introduce and promote a new system of wrestling at the Lillie Bridge Grounds, West Brompton, which he denominated, ‘The Catch-as-catch-can Style; first down to lose’. 1898Encycl. Sport II. 548/2 The principal chips associated with catch as catch can wrestling are the double Nelson, the half Nelson, the heave [etc.]. Ibid. 549/2 Turkish wrestling is principally carried out in catch as catch can style. 1905Daily Chron. 21 Dec. 9/5 A catch-as-catch-can wrestler needs to be wonderfully active. 1913,1934[see all-in 2]. 1935C. Isherwood Mr. Norris changes Trains xv. 243 Arthur's orientally sensitive spirit shrank from the rough, healthy, modern catch-as-catch-can of home-truths and confessions. 1957Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 806/2 The Lancashire style, generally known as ‘catch-as-catch-can’, is practised in Lancashire, throughout Great Britain generally, and is the most popular style in the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland. 1958Times 13 Aug. 9/4 A bull..decided that here was a catch-as-catch-can event in which he was free to join.
40. catch me! or catch me at it! (sense 9): a phrase expressing emphatically that one will never be found doing a thing. Also with pronouns other than me. colloq.
1830Galt Lawrie T. v. iv. (1849) 207 Catch me again at such costly daffin. 1879M. E. Braddon Vixen I. i. 15 Catch me going to London! exclaimed Vixen. 1886Mallock Old Ord. Changes II. 58 He never did a stroke [of work]..Catch him! 1890G. B. Shaw in Time Feb. 201 ‘Does Christine ever lecture them?’..‘Catch her at it!’ said Krogstad... ‘They would soon show her the door.’ 1936N. Coward Fumed Oak 41 Mrs. Rockett: I can always go to a boarding-house or a private hotel. Doris: Catch you!
41. to catch it: to get a thrashing or a scolding. colloq.
1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. xxxviii, We all thought Tom was about to catch it. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxxi, I shall catch it down stairs, I know. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xvi. 218 He catches it if he does not bring home a fair proportion to his wife.
42. to catch cold: formerly, to become chilled by exposure to cold; now, to contract the ailment called a ‘cold’ or catarrh, to ‘take cold’. Also, in this sense, to catch a cold.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. i. ii. 136 Here they shall not lye, for catching cold. 1670R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 98 It was my fortune to find her [an Echo] when she had catched a cold. 1712Addison Spect. No. 517 ⁋1 The old man caught a cold at the county-sessions. 1734Berkeley Wks. (1871) IV. 217, I can hardly stir abroad without catching cold. 1776Johnson Lett. Mrs. Thrale (1788) I. 321 Mrs. Williams says that I have caught a cold this afternoon. 1861F. Nightingale Nursing 7 Never be afraid of open windows..People don't catch cold in bed.
43. A person is said to catch the eye of another when their eyes meet, either fortuitously, or (more usually) when the one is purposely looking and thus arrests the glance of the other.
1813Jane Austen Pride & Prej. iii. 9 He looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till, catching her eye, etc. 1865Trollope Belton Est. v. 48 Clara caught her cousin's eye and smiled. 1883Lloyd Ebb & Fl. I. 11 Here he caught Pauline's eye and stopped. Mod. Mr. A. and Mr. B. rose together, but the latter managed to catch the Speaker's eye.
44. to catch fire (formerly also to catch a fire): to become ignited, ‘take fire’; fig. to become inflamed or inspired (with passion, zeal, etc.).
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 219 A candel þat cauȝte hath fyre & blaseth. 1601Holland Pliny I. 45 In Illyricum there is a cold spring, ouer which, if ye spread any clothes, they catch a fire and burne. 1734Watts Relig. Juv. (1789) 160 His soul catched fire. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 480 But how comes it, that air and water, though agitated ever so much, never catch fire? 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. I. 338, I have a hyperbolical tongue: it catches fire as it goes.
45. to catch hold of (obs. at, on): to lay hold of, take hold of, seize, apprehend. Also fig.
1537W. T. Expos. St. John 80 The deuel can ketch no hold on them. 1602Carew Cornwall 2 a, They will still gripe fast, what they haue once caught hold on. 1606G. W[oodcocke] Ivstine 103 b, Which..caught hold at the least occasion [that] might intrap him. 1611Bible 2 Sam. xviii. 9 His head caught hold of the Oke. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. ii. (1851) 44 This saying you catch'd hold of, thinking it would make for your purpose. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xv. 251, I catched hold of Friday. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxxii, Catching hold of some rails.
46. to catch a glimpse, catch a sight of: to get a momentary or sudden view of. to catch sight of: to come abruptly in view of, to see all at once.
1825Knapp & Baldw. Newgate Cal. IV. 378/1 My daughter caught a sight of me. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxvi, She..caught sight of what was going forward. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton vii, He turned to catch a look at her sweet face. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 580 If once the train⁓bands had caught sight of his well known face. 1851Dixon W. Penn i. (1872) 2 He caught some glimpses of the pirate holds. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxx. 406 You catch a glimmer of the blue peaks of Westmoreland. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 193, I caught a sight of him over their heads.
47. to catch (someone) bending: see bend v. 9 d.
¶ to catch a crab, a tartar: see these words.
XI. Combined with adverbs.
48. catch away.
†a. trans. To chase away. Obs. See 1.
c1325Metr. Hom. 151 Alle thar kache me away. c1440Promp. Parv. 57 Cachyn away, abigo.
b. To seize and take away, snatch away.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. B. 1275 Þay [Nebuchadnezzar's army] caȝt away þat condelestik. 1611Bible Matt. xiii. 19 Then commeth the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sowen. 1711Spect. No. 524 ⁋8 These would sometimes very narrowly miss being catched away.
†49. to catch forth. trans. To drive out. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 2710 Caches furthe his cold wirdis.
†50. catch off. trans. To snatch or take off. Obs. See 19.
c1420Anturs of Arth. xlix, Wilfulle Waynour Keȝte of hur curonalle.
51. catch on.
a. See 1 and 2.
b. intr. To attach or fix oneself to, join on, catch hold of. colloq.
1884Lisbon (Dakota) Star 27 June, Now is the time to catch on in order to keep up with the procession. 1885Milnor (Dakota) Free Press 28 Mar. 1/5 His sagacious mind immediately recognized and caught on to the only plan of salvation in sight.
c. U.S. To apprehend; = 35 a. colloq.
1884Cambridge (Mass.) Tribune 18 July, He Didn't Catch-On to the Pronunciation. 1885J. Hawthorne Love or Name 97, I dont think I catch on.
d. To ‘take’, make its way. Hence catch-on n., a success (rare). colloq.
1887Pall Mall G. 9 Mar. 1/2 A publisher never knows whether a new book will ‘catch on’. 1895G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) I. 274 The ordinary commercial west end theatre, with its ignoble gambling for ‘a catch-on’. 1897Ibid. III. 28 Commercial enterprise, always dreaming of ‘catches-on’, long runs, and ‘silver mines’, attempted to exploit the occasion in the usual way.
52. catch out.
a. See 1 and 2.
b. Cricket: see 24 c.
1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 331 Þe Inglis þe katched out. 1340Ayenb. 171 Ase þet hote weter cacheþ þane hond out of þe kechene.
c. fig. To catch in a mistake, catch napping or in the act.
1816Jane Austen Emma II. xiv. 275 Ah! there I am—thinking of him directly. Always the first person to be thought of! How I catch myself out! 1881Mrs. E. Lynn Linton My Love xvii, Randolph caught himself out in the vileness of wishing that she was just a trifle less superior. 1956A. L. Rowse Early Churchills xii. 230 His methods were distinctly unorthodox: that was what alarmed the Dutch text-book generals and caught out the French.
53. catch over. To freeze over: see 31 b.
54. catch up.
a. trans. To raise or carry suddenly aloft.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. C. 102 Cachen vp þe crossayl, cables þay fasten. 1611Bible 2 Cor. xii. 2 Caught vp to the third heauen. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 33, I saw many catch'd up and carried away into the Clouds. 1873Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 234 An angel caught you up and clapped you down.
b. To take up or lift suddenly.
c1400Destr. Troy 13027 He comaund the corse cacche vp onone. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 532 A blanket in th' Alarum of feare caught vp. 1815Hist. Decastro & Bat I. 112 She catched her feet up as if the floor burned her toes.
c. To take up or adopt quickly or eagerly.
1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 35 This project..was catcht up by our Prelates. 1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 428 The tone of irreverence..which his followers too often caught up. 1887Atlantic Monthly LX. 281 Catching up a popular neologism from the newspapers.
d. To interrupt, stop, ‘pull up’.
1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xl, You catch me up so very short.
e. To overtake. Also in non-physical senses, and intr. esp. in to catch up on, to, with. So catching-up vbl. n.
1855Kingsley Westw. Ho xiv. (1871) 244 If they catch us up—as they are sure to do, knowing the country better than we. 1857Trollope Three Clerks v. (1874) 55 We shall catch them up..before they leave the park. 1883Lloyd Ebb & Fl. II. 242 Come along or we shall never catch them up. 1886Calcutta Englishman in J. M. Dixon Dict. Idiomatic Eng. Phrases (1891) 58 He has not caught up (overtaken) his rival by the time earlier educational honours are distributed. 1923H. Crane Let. 5 Dec. (1965) 159 Getting things straightened around again and catching up on our supply of wood. 1925E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 114, I had to wait quite half an hour for him to catch up. 1925Times (weekly ed.) 26 Nov., The police caught up on the men just as they entered a dark archway. 1926Ibid. 5 Aug., Its sanitation can never catch up to its needs. 1927Jespersen Mod. Eng. Gram. (1928) iii. 271 Where an Englishman says ‘I shall catch you up’, or ‘I'll catch up with you’, Americans know only the latter phrase. 1941A. L. Rowse Tudor Cornwall xv. 412 Killigrew found himself in prison; his own misdemeanours..had at last..caught up with him. 194219th Cent. Feb. 90 This rapid catching-up on Western ideas. 1967‘La Meri’ Sp. Dancing (ed. 2) vii. 89 Toward the middle of the [nineteenth] century the Seguidillas Manchegas caught up the waning popularity of the Bolero.
f. U.S. ‘Among travellers across the great prairies, the phrase means, to prepare the horses and mules for the march’ (Bartlett Dict. Amer.). trans. and absol.
18..N.Y. Spirit of Times, Frontier Tale (Bartlett), They..stayed till about noon, catched up their fresh horses, etc. 18..Prairie Scenes (Bartlett), We've a long march before us; so catch up, and we'll be off. |