Catch

Catch, kach, v.t. to take hold of: to apprehend or understand: to seize after pursuit: to trap or ensnare: to take a disease by infection: to take up anything by sympathy or imitation.—v.i. to be contagious: to be entangled or fastened in anything;—pa.t. and pa.p. caught (kawt).—n. seizure: anything that seizes or holds: that which is caught: anything worth catching: a sudden advantage taken: a specially English form of musical composition, written generally in three or four parts, and in the canon form—originally synonymous with the round.—adj. Catch′able, that may be caught.—ns. Catch′er, one who catches; Catch′fly, a popular name of several plants belonging to the genus Silene, and of Lychnis Viscaria, whose glutinous stems often retain insects settling on them; Catch′ing, the action of the verb 'to catch:' a nervous or spasmodic twitching.—adj. infectious: captivating, attractive.—ns. Catch′ment-bās′in, a term applied to all that part of a river-basin from which rain is collected, and from which, therefore, the river is fed; Catch′penny, any worthless thing, esp. a publication, intended merely to gain money—also adj.; Catch′word, among actors, the last word of the preceding speaker—the cue: the word at the head of the page in a dictionary or encyclopædia: the first word of a page given at the bottom of the preceding page: any word or phrase taken up and repeated as the watchword or symbol of a party.—adj. Catch′y, attractive, deceptive, readily caught up, as an air, &c., fitful.—Catch at, to snatch at; Catch fire, to become ignited, to be inspired by passion or zeal; Catch hold of, to seize; Catch it, to get a scolding or the like; Catch me! an emphatic colloquial phrase implying that there is not the remotest possibility of my doing something suggested; Catch on, to comprehend: to catch the popular fancy; Catch out, to put a batsman out at cricket by catching the ball he has batted; Catch sight of, suddenly to get a glimpse of; Catch up, to overtake; Catch up, or away, to lay hold of forcibly. [From O. Fr. cachier—Late L. captiāre for captāre, inten. of capĕre, to take. See Chase.]