Catch (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Caught (?) or Catched (&unr_;); 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.]
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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.
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2. To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief. “They pursued . . . and caught him.” Judg. i. 6.
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3. To take captive, as in a snare or net, or on a hook; as, to catch a bird or fish.
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4. Hence: To insnare; to entangle. “To catch him in his words”. Mark xii. 13.
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5. To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to catch a melody. “Fiery thoughts . . . whereof I catch the issue.” Tennyson.
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6. To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the adjoining building.
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7. To engage and attach; to please; to charm.
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The soothing arts that catch the fair. Dryden.
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8. To get possession of; to attain.
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Torment myself to catch the English throne. Shak.
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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.
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10. To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to catch one in the act of stealing.
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11. To reach in time; to come up with; as, to catch a train.
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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.
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Catch, n. 1. Act of seizing; a grasp. Sir P. Sidney.
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2. That by which anything is caught or temporarily fastened; as, the catch of a gate.
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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.
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The common and the canon law . . . lie at catch, and wait advantages one againt another. T. Fuller.
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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.
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Hector shall have a great catch if he knock out either of your brains. Shak.
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5. Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife in matrimony. [Colloq.] Marryat.
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6. pl. Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
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It has been writ by catches with many intervals. Locke.
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7. A slight remembrance; a trace.
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We retain a catch of those pretty stories. Glanvill.
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8. (Mus.) A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's words.
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