Catch v.

Pa. t. and pple. caught. 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. t. α. 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 1309, 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. t. cahte, cauhte, cauȝte, caught, like lahte, lauhte, lauȝte, laught, which was used along with the regular cacched, catchte, catched, and during the present century [19th] has superseded it in literary use (though catched, cotched is still widely prevalent in dial.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.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 949. Gredi foueles fellen ðor-on … abram … kaȝte is [= them] wei.

c. 1305.  Disp. Mary & Cross, 102, in Leg. Rood, 134. Þe Jewes from þe cros ine keiȝt.

c. 1330.  R. 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.

c. 1440.  York Myst., xlviii. 326. Caytiffis ȝe cacched [Townley Myst. chaste] me feo youre ȝate.

1499.  Promp. Parv., 58 (Pynson). Catchyn [1440 chasyn] or dryue forth bestis, mino.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, I. i. 4. Our land and see cachit [jactatus] with mekle pyne.

  † 2.  intr. To chase, run, hasten; to press on.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., B. 629. He cached to his cob-hous & a calf bryngez.

c. 1340.  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1794. Kysse me now comly, & I schal cach heþen.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 2014. Þai … kachyn on kyndly, & þaire course held.

1526.  Skelton, 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.

c. 1205.  Lay., 4547. Monie scipen he þer cahte.

1382.  Wyclif, 2 Kings xiv. 7. And he cauȝte [1388 took] the place, that hatte Petra, in bateyl.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1467. To cache a castell þat was kene holdyn. Ibid., 9766. Carles þaire cuntre cacht as þaire aune.

1535.  Coverdale, Judg. v. 12. Catch him y^t 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.)

c. 1205.  Lay., 31501. Ȝif he me mihte cacchen [1275 cache] he me wolde quellen.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 294. Capite nobis uulpes paruulas … keccheð us … þe ȝunge uoxes.

c. 1325.  Pol. Songs, 152. He may scape ant we aren ever caht.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Reeve’s T., 185. They cowde nat … Here capil cacche, it ran away so fast. Ibid., Melibeus, ¶ 212. He … setteth a nette byfore his feet to cacchen him.

1393.  Gower, Conf., III. 258. As the tigre his time awaiteth In hope for to cacche his pray.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 12993. He purpost hym priuely … at his comyng to kacche hym olyue.

1486.  Bk. St. Albans, E viij a. Theys houndes all Bayen and cryen when thay hym ceche shall.

1593.  Tell-Troth’s N. Y. Gift (1876), 35. The siliest creatures are sildome catcht in ordinary trappes.

1601.  Shaks., Twel. N., II. iii. 65. Some dogs will catch well. Ibid. (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.

1642.  Rogers, Naaman, 375. He had fished all night and catcht nothing.

1672–5.  Comber, Comp. Temple (1702), 91. Some silly Bird … suddenly catcht in the Fowler’s snare.

1713.  C’tess Winchilsea, Misc. Poems, 96. ’Till thinking Thee to’ve catch’d, Himself by thee was caught.

1716.  Lett., in Wodrow Corr. (1843), II. 143. He catched four or five of the rebels that were lurking in Angus.

1797.  Bewick, Brit. Birds (1847), I. 14. Small birds … caught in a singular manner.

1815.  Monthly Mag., XXXVIII. 435. One might almost say they would come to be catched.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, V. 105. Like tender things that being caught feign death.

1866.  N. & Q., Ser. III. IX. 498/1. True amphibians, catching their prey in the water.

  fig.  a. 1715.  Burnet, 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.’

1382.  Wyclif, 1 Cor. iii. 19. I schal catche wyse men in her fell wysdom.

1460.  Capgrave, Chron., 189. Othir lordis he cacchid, or caute, with fayre wordes.

1611.  Bible, Mark xii. 13. And they send vnto him certaine of the Pharises, and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

1654.  Cromwell, Sp., 4 Sept. (Carlyle). For few have been catched by the former mistakes.

1699.  Bentley, Phal., 283. To see how Error is propagated, even Petavius too was caught here.

1887.  Manch. Guard., 8 March, 8/4. With a dollar only minted in London (or England) someone would be ‘caught.’

  † 6.  fig. To obtain by exertion (viewed as a race or chase); to attain, get possession of. Obs.

1382.  Wyclif, 1 Tim. vi. 12. Catche euerlastyng lyf [Tindale, Coverd. laye honde on; Rhem. apprehend; 1611 lay hold on].

c. 1420.  Metr. Life St. Kath. (Halliw.). 19. Many have there kaght ther heele.

1561.  Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573), 61. A feruent zeale to follow and catch thy saluation.

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. ii. 179. I … Torment my selfe, to catch the English Crowne. Ibid. (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.)

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XI. 168. For no cause to cacche siluer þere-by.

1393.  Gower, Conf., II. 202. Where they the profit mighten cacche.

c. 1550.  Bale, 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.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., V. i. 315. Saile, so expeditious, that shall catch Your Royall fleete farre off.

1678.  Littleton, 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.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, II. x. 142. Oh! if the wind’s in your favour, you will 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.)

1826.  Disraeli, Viv. Grey, IV. iii. 146. I was afraid my note might not have caught you.

1870.  Miss Bridgman, R. Lynne, I. xiii. 220. I shall be able to catch the Sandgate train.

1872.  Jenkinson, Guide Eng. Lakes (1879), 232. The tourist may … walk … to the Bassenthwaite station, and there catch the train.

1879.  Daily News, 12 Dec., 5/3. The popular pastime known as ‘catching a train.’… The number of disappointed train-catchers, he found, 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., that overtakes one before reaching one’s destination. Most frequently in the passive; const. usually in.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 317, ¶ 9. Caught in a Shower … Returned home and dryed my self.

1758.  Johnson, Idler, No. 33, ¶ 19. Catched in a shower coming back.

1791.  Smeaton, 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.  To come upon suddenly or unexpectedly; to surprise, detect (a person in or at some action, or doing something).

1610.  B. Jonson, Alch., V. iii. What shall I doe? I am catch’d.

1650.  Baxter, Saints’ Rest, II. (1662), Pref. 175. All his Adversaries would soon have catched him in it.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 466, ¶ 3. I catched her once … at Chuck-Farthing among the Boys.

a. 1734.  North, Exam., III. viii. ¶ 13. 591. They will be caught napping.

1772.  Johnson, in Boswell (1816), II. 162. I never catched Mallet in a Scotch accent.

1861.  Dickens, Gt. Expect., vii. My sister catching him in the act.

1883.  G. Lloyd, Ebb & Flow, II. 94. I used to catch myself saying, ‘Where’s Frank?’

  † 10.  To reach, attain, arrive at (a goal). Obs.

1393.  Gower, 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.)

1583.  Golding, 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.

1834.  Gentl. Mag., Dec. II. 587/2. In the act of catching the Saint with the hot iron under the right ear.

1885.  Manch. 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.  To take hold of suddenly or forcibly; to grasp, seize.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 102. Hweðer þe cat of helle … cauhte, mid his cleafres, hire heorte heaued?

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 18379. Oure lord by the hond Adam cawght.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 13508. Wele his cosyn he knew, & kaght hym in armys.

1530.  Palsgr., 723/2. I snappe at a thyng to catche it with my tethe.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., III. ii. 30. Betwixt her feeble armes her quickly keight.

1611.  Bible, Matt. xiv. 31. Iesus stretched foorth his hand, and caught him, and said vnto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

1676.  Hobbes, Iliad, II. 284. 23. At last the Serpent catcht her by the wing.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., xxi. I caught the dear forlorn wretch in my arms.

1842.  Tennyson, Day-Dream, 49. The page has caught her hand in his.

1857.  Hughes, Tom Brown, II. iv. He may throw him, if he catches him fairly above the waist.

  13.  fig. To seize, seize on, lay hold on, affect violently. Obs. exc. as in 14.

1382.  Wyclif, Micah iv. 9. Sorewe hath cachid thee.

1426.  Audelay, Poems, 13. Thai be caȝt with covetyse.

1539.  Taverner, Erasm. Prov. (1552), 10. Whan … the disease catcheth ones strength.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 127. Beyond the riuer Ganges … the people are caught with the Sun, and begin to be blackish.

1604.  Shaks., Oth., III. iii. 90. Perdition catch my Soule, But I do loue thee.

c. 1630.  Risdon, Surv. Devon, § 216 (1811), 225. You have taken the cold, or the cold hath caught you.

1789.  Wolcott (P. Pindar), Expost. Odes, iii. Perdition catch the money-grasping wretch!

  † b.  intr. To catch to: to seize on. Obs. rare^–1.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 50. Fore careful colde þat to me caȝt.

  14.  Of fire: To seize on, lay hold of, attack.

1734.  trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), I. II. 392. The fire catched all the engines.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., xxi. The flames were just catching the bed.

1865.  Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., IV. XII. vi. 167. The fire caught many houses.

  b.  intr. To seize on anything; to be communicated, spread; also fig.

1560.  Bible (Genev.), Ex. xxii. 6. If fire breake out, and catch in the thornes.

1634.  Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit., xxvi. Let but some spark of heretical opinion be let fall upon some … busy spirit, it catcheth instantly.

1713.  Addison, Cato, II. vi. 37. Does the sedition catch from man to man, And run among their ranks?

1715.  Desaguliers, Fires Impr., 136. The Fire that may chance to catch in the Chimney.

1814.  Southey, Carmen Triumph., xv. The flame hath caught, the flame is spread!

  † 15.  intr. To set in fairly, begin. Obs. rare.

1686.  Goad, Celest. Bodies, II. ii. 168. Rains when they once Catch, are apt to last.

  † 16.  trans. To fasten, attach. Obs. rare^–1.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1077. Cogges with cablis [they] cachyn to londe.

  17.  To lay hold of and detain; to grip, entangle; said of merely physical action.

1611.  Bible, Gen. xxii. 13. A Ramme caught in a thicket by his hornes.

1644.  Evelyn, Diary (Chandos), 99. A chayre which catches any who sitts doune in it so as not to be able to stirr out.

1694.  Acc. Sev. Late Voy. (1711), II. 43. The Ships … are often catcht between [the Ice-fields], and broken by them.

1734.  trans. Rollin’s Rom. Hist., III. 402. His arms were catched in the trunk of the trees.

  b.  To fasten or hold with a catch.

1881.  Greener, Gun, 159–60. 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.

1875.  Jowett, 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.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 237. [She] caȝte of her coroun of grete tresore.

1382.  Wyclif, Prov. xxxi. 19. Hir fingris caȝten the spindle.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1850. Pryvely she kaught forthe a knyfe.

1393.  Gower, Conf., I. 291. He tho cought A yerde, which he bare on honde … and smote hem.

1605.  Camden, Rem., 18. So they called parchment which wee have catcht from the Latine Pergamentum.

1626.  Donne, 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.

1667.  Marvell, 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, courage, council, the field; to catch haste. Obs.

c. 1340.  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1118. Þay … Kysten ful comlyly, & kaȝten her leue.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 1053. Þei kauȝt here leue.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Pers. T., ¶ 615. Agayns this … synne of accidie … schulden men … manly and vertuously cacchin corrage wel to doo.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 3192. Counsell was kaght of knightes & oþer. Ibid., 8285. Thre thousaund full þro þrang into batell … kaghten the fild.

1513.  Douglas, 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.

c. 1325.  Poem temp. Edw. II. (Percy), xxviii. For to cache his rest.

c. 1330.  Pol. Songs, 331. Anon therafter he fondeth to kacche reste.

1393.  Gower, Conf., II. 111. That I may cacche slepe.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, IX. v. 3. The othir bestis … Ful sownd on sleip dyd cawcht thair rest.

1684.  Gt. Frost, 10. The prentices starv’d at home for want of coals To catch them a heat do flock thither in shoals.

1733.  Pope, Ess. Man, III. 18. By turns we catch the vital breath, and die.

1821.  Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 24. Old women, overpowered by heat … Seeking … the mole-hill seat, To tell their tales and catch their breath awhile.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, I. vii. 121. It was long before she could catch a wink of sleep.

1856.  Kane, Arct. Expl., II. iv. 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.

c. 1525.  Vox Populi, 51, in Hazl., E. E. P., III. 271. All men … Which can ketche any lande Out of the poore mans hande.

1553.  Grimalde, Cicero’s Offices, III. (1558), 121 b. If euery one of vs catche to himselfe the commodities of other.

1667.  Milton, P. L., XII. 83. Upstart Passions catch the Government From Reason.

1864.  Tennyson, Enoch Arden, 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.

1594.  Bp. King, Jonas (1618), 188. It is not for vs to catch after death.

1607.  Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 83. How she [a cat] beggeth, playeth, leapeth, looketh, catcheth.

1642.  R. Carpenter, Experience, V. xviii. 315–6. Catching and scraping for mony.

1642.  Fuller, Holy & 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.)

1628.  Earle, 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.

1601.  Cornwallyes, Ess., I. xxvii. (1631), 20. Fearing they would be catcht at.

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., V. ii. 215. Sawcie Lictors Will catch at vs like Strumpets.

1721–33.  Strype, Eccl. Mem., III. App. xx. 57. We hunted for praise from impiety, and catched at commendation from al kind of wickednes.

1782.  Cowper, 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.

1589.  Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (Arb.), 239. We do … catch the ball … before it come to the ground.

1684.  T. Burnet, Th. Earth, I. 59. They might be catcht and stopt … in their descent.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 160, ¶ 11. Tossing up Eggs, and catching them again without breaking them.

1734.  Sale, Koran, Prelim. Disc. § 1 (Chandos), 3. To use rain-water which they catch in cisterns.

1849.  Laws Cricket, in ‘Bat,’ Cricket Man. (1850), 56. A ball being caught, no run shall be reckoned.

1857.  Hughes, Tom Brown, II. i. (1882), 37/3. The boot he had just pulled off flew straight at the head of the bully, who had just time to throw up his arms and catch it on his elbow.

1866.  G. Macdonald, Ann. Q. Neighb., xxx. (1878), 523. Find a basin or plate,… and put it to catch the drop here.

  b.  fig.

1611.  Bible, 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.

1746.  in ‘Bat,’ Cricket Man. (1850), 20. Newland … 15 c[aught by] Ld. J. Sackville. Ibid. (1850), 46. If a striker is caught out, state the fieldsman’s name.

1883.  in Daily Tel., 15 May, 2/7. Peate … caught and bowled Hearn.

  25.  To lay hold of (an opportunity) as it occurs.

1548.  Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xix. 3. Here the Phariseis thynking that they had caught nowe an occasyon to catche Iesus.

1658.  Sir T. Browne, Hydriot., Ep. Ded. We … catched the opportunity to write or old things.

1734.  Fielding, Quix. in Eng., II. iv. His design is to rob the house, if he could catch an opportunity.

a. 1764.  Lloyd, Voltaire’s Henriade, Wks. 1774, II. 224. The Guises … Catch’d the fair moment which his weakness gave.

1791.  Smeaton, Edystone L., § 278. The first opportunity he could catch after the violent storm.

  b.  intr. with at. Cf. 23.

c. 1680.  Beveridge, Serm. (1729), I. 202. You catch at all opportunities you can find of encreasing your estates.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Berkeley the Banker, I. iii. 49. Martin caught at the idea.

  26.  To catch one’s breath: to check the breath suddenly; see BREATH 5 b.

1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., III. ii. 371. A greeuous sicknesse tooke him, That makes him gaspe, and stare, and catch the aire, Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth.

1833, 1864.  [see BREATH 5 b].

1855.  Tennyson, Maud, I. xiv. iv. I … Felt a horror … Prickle my skin and catch my breath. Ibid. (1859), Elaine, 620. She caught her breath.

  27.  To check, interrupt in speaking. (Now only with up (53 d); colloq.; cf. take up.)

1670.  Cotton, Espernon, III. XII. 623. Not that I do (he presently caught himself) in the least confess etc.

a. 1726.  Penn, Wks., I. App. 333. 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 that comes against it in passing, and is stopped or retarded by it.

1734.  trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), V. XIV. 380. His robe being catched by a bramble.

1791.  Smeaton, Edystone L., § 250. Our stone vessels were liable to be catched by the keel in going out.

1880.  Black, 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.

c. 1205.  Lay., 10843. Hu he hauede þene nome icaht.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 154. Neuer ȝet i monne floc ne keihte he swuche biȝete.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 5267. Sone þei cauȝt cumfort.

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. I. 134. Þe cardinales at court þat cauȝt han such a name.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 2155. Myche comforth he caght of 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).

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 66. Heo hunteð efter pris, & keccheð lastunge. Ibid., 88. Wo is me þet he, oðer heo, habbeð swuch word ikeiht.

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 375. Rychard caȝte þer hys deþ.

c. 1330.  Amis & Amil., 2455. All that thei there lafte, Grete strokes there thei caufte.

c. 1420.  Avow. Arth., xvi. As he hade keghet scathe.

1480.  Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccxliii. 290. Ther he caught deths wounde.

1531.  Tindale, Expos. St. John (1537), 79. If at tyms they be taken tardy and ketch a fall.

a. 1591.  H. Smith, Wks. (1867), II. 148. Always climbing till we catch a fall.

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. ii. 23. Fight closer, or … you’le catch a Blow.

1678.  Bunyan, Pilgr., I. 84. He … went by, and catcht no hurt.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 597, ¶ 2. I am afraid he caught his Death the last County Sessions.

1872.  Black, Adv. Phaeton, I. iv. 61. I will not allow Bell to catch her death of cold.

  31.  To receive, incur, or contract, through exposure; as † to catch heat (obs.), to catch the breeze. (Cf. also to catch cold, 42.)

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 28. Þer it cacheþ hete.

c. 1369.  Chaucer, Dethe Blaunche, 781. As a white walle or a table … ys redy to cachche and take Al that men wil theryn make.

1535.  Coverdale, Matt. xiii. 6. Whan the Sonne arose it caught heate.

1700.  Addison, Lett. Italy, Wks. (1721), 133. To catch the breeze of breathing air.

1704.  Worlidge, Dict. Rust. et Urb., s.v. October, Least the Carnations catch too much wet.

1764.  Goldsm., Trav., 47. Ye lakes, whose vessels catch the busy gale.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, II. xvii. 251 Each morning his face had caught the ghastly fore-shadowing of Death.

1878.  Bosw. 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.

1794.  Rigging & Seamanship, II. 292. Her sails begin to catch a-back.

1825.  in Hone, Every-day Bk., II. 1378.

1879.  Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., 382. A bright clear moon is credited with causing the water to ‘catch’—that is, the slender, thread-like spicules form on the surface, and, joining together, finally cover it.

1886.  F. 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.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1746. [He] caughte to this lady swich desyr.

c. 1430.  Lydg., Bochas, I. xiv. (1554), 27 a. She caught an indignation.

c. 1570.  Thynne, Pride & Lowl. (1841), 5. Love, or feare, Which any wight … hath icaught.

1715–20.  Pope, Iliad, XV. 439. Presumptuous Troy mistook th’ accepting Sign, And 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.)

1547.  Boorde, Introd. Knowl., 126. If I do go barlegged, I do cach the coffe.

1601.  Shaks., Twel. N., I. v. 314. Euen so quickly may one catch the plague? Ibid. (1611), Wint. T. I. ii. 386. I cannot name the Disease, and it is caught Of you.

1667.  Milton, P. L., X. 544. They … the dire form Catcht by Contagion.

1747.  Berkeley, Tar-water in Plague, Wks. III. 480. Useful to prevent catching the small-pox.

1806.  Med. 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.).

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., I. i. 189. My tongue should catch your tongues sweet melodie.

1709.  Pope, Ess. Crit., 409. Some ne’er advance a judgment of their own, But catch the spreading notion of the town.

1746–7.  Hervey, Medit. (1758), I. 101. Who can forbear catching the general Joy?

1778.  Robertson, Hist. Amer., I. II. 112. He seemed to have catched the same spirit with his subjects.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, I. ix. 152 She ‘caught the trick of grief, and sighed.’

1857.  Maurice, Ep. St. John, i. 3. I should like at least to catch something of his spirit.

  VIII.  To seize by the senses or intellect.

  35.  To apprehend by the senses or intellect; to hear, see, etc., by an effort; to succeed in hearing, seeing, understanding, etc.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., II. i. 70. Euery obiect that [his eye] doth catch. Ibid. (1606), Ant. & Cl., I. ii. 144. Cleopatra catching but the least noise of this, dies instantly.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., xx. Listening to catch the glorious sounds.

1822.  Hazlitt, Table-t., II. iv. 78. You cannot from the rapidity and carelessness of his utterance catch what he says.

1837.  Whewell, Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857), I. 24. It does not appear … easy to catch his exact meaning.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, I. x. 184. Catching the state of the case, with her quick-glancing eyes.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 58. I only caught the words, ‘Shall we let him off?’

  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.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., I. v. 19. Thy nature … is too full o’ th’ Milke of humane kindnesse, To catch the neerest way.

1753.  H. 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.

1805.  Scott, Last Minstrel, Introd. 87. When he caught the measure wild.

1883.  G. Lloyd, Ebb & Flow, II. 256. The attitude had evidently been caught from life, in a happy moment.

  IX.  To arrest the attention, mind, fancy, etc.

  37.  To arrest the attention of (a person); to captivate, charm. Cf. take, fetch.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Doctor’s T., 127. So was he caught wiþ beaute of þis mayde.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iii. 77. Beauty and Honour in her are so mingled, That they haue caught the King.

1700.  Dryden, Pal. & Arc., III. in Fables, 61 (J.).

1771.  Junius Lett., lxi. 319. A concession merely to catch the people.

1850.  Browning, 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.).

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., III. iii. 183. Things in motion sooner catch the eye.

1712.  Hughes, Spect., No. 467, ¶ 5. It is below him to catch the Sight with any Care of Dress.

1736.  Butler, Anal., I. v. 93. Any one of a thousand Objects catching his Eye.

1777.  Sir W. Jones, Seven Fount., 44. Melodious notes … caught with sweet extasy his ravish’d heart.

1806.  Med. Jrnl., XV. 228. I hope this paper may catch his eye.

1820.  W. Irving, Sketch Bk., I. 46. The figurative style of my language caught the excited imagination of Leslie.

1832.  Ht. Martineau, Homes Abroad, vii. 100. A rustle outside the door … caught her excited ear.

1874.  Blackie, 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].

1662.  Gerbier, Princ., 17. The various devices of Smiths, to catch Money out of the Builders Purses.

1833.  Chamb. Jrnl., No. 72. 156. Every lure is set, every trap is baited, to catch the contents of the Cockney’s purse.

1871.  Morley, Voltaire (1886), 160. He sought to catch some crumb of praise.

  X.  Phrases.

  39.  Catch that catch may, catch as catch can, etc.: phrases expressing laying hold of in any way, each as he can.

1393.  Gower, Conf., III. 240. Was none in sight But cacche who that cacche might.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 171. Catch that catch may.

1611.  Cotgr., Griffe, graffe, by hooke or by crooke … catch that catch may.

1616.  Beaum. & Fl., Scornf. Lady, I. i. Men, women, and all woo: catch that catch may.

1752.  Johnson, Rambl., No. 197, ¶ 3. In a world where all must catch that catch can.

  40.  Catch me! or catch me at it! (sense 9): a phrase expressing emphatically that one will never be found doing a thing. colloq.

1830.  Galt, Lawrie T., V. iv. (1849), 207. Catch me again at such costly daffin.

1879.  Miss Braddon, Vixen, I. i. 15. Catch me going to London! exclaimed Vixen.

1886.  Mallock, Old Ord. Changes, II. 58. He never did a stroke [of work] … Catch him!

  41.  To catch it: to get a thrashing or a scolding. colloq.

1835.  Marryat, Jac. Faithf., xxxviii. We all thought Tom was about to catch it.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, II. xiv. 184. I shall catch it down stairs, I know.

1872.  Black, Adv. Phaeton, II. xvi. 6. 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.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., I. ii. 136. Here they shall not lye, for catching cold.

1670.  Lassels, Voy. Italy, II. 98. It was my fortune to find her [an Echo] when she had catched a cold.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 517, ¶ 1. The old man caught a cold at the county-sessions.

1734.  Berkeley, Wks. (1871), IV. 217. I can hardly stir abroad without catching cold.

1776.  Johnson, Lett. Mrs. Thrale (1788), I. 321. Mrs. Williams says that I have caught a cold this afternoon.

1861.  Flor. 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.

1813.  Jane Austen, Pride & Prej., iii. 9. He looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till, catching her eye, [etc.].

1865.  Trollope, Belton Est., v. 48. Clara caught her cousin’s eye and smiled.

1883.  G. Lloyd, Ebb & Flow, 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.).

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XVII. 219. A candel þat cauȝte hath fyre & blaseth.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 45. In Illyricum there is a cold spring, ouer which, if ye spread any clothes, they catch a fire and burne.

1734.  Watts, Reliq. Juv. (1789), 160. His soul catched fire.

1796.  H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), I. 480. But how comes it, that air and water, though agitated ever so much, never catch fire?

1872.  Geo. 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.

1531.  Tindale, Expos. St. John (1537), 79. The deuell can ketche no hold of them.

1602.  Carew, Cornwall, 2 a. They will still gripe fast, what they haue once caught hold on.

1606.  G. W[oodcocke], Hist Ivstine, 103 b. Which … caught hold at the least occasion [that] might intrap him.

1611.  Bible, 2 Sam. xviii. 9. His head caught hold of the Oke.

1692.  Washington, trans. Milton’s Def. Pop., ii. (1851), 44. This saying you catch’d hold of, thinking it would make for your purpose.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. xv. 251. I catched hold of Friday.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, II. xv. 204. Catching hold of some rails as if she feared some bodily force would be employed to remove her.

  46.  To catch a glimpse, 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.

1825.  Knapp & Baldw., Newgate Cal., IV. 378/1. My daughter caught a sight of me.

1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xxxvi. She … caught sight of what was going forward.

1848.  Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton, I. vii. 120. He turned to catch a look at her sweet face.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 579. If once the train-bands had caught sight of his well known face and figure, they would probably have gone over to him in a body.

1851.  Dixon, W. Penn, i. (1872), 2. He caught some glimpses of the pirate holds.

1872.  Black, Adv. Phaeton, II. xxx. 288. You catch a glimmer of the blue peaks of Westmoreland.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 193. I caught a sight of him over their heads.

  ¶ To catch a CRAB, a TARTAR: see these words.

  XI.  combined with adverbs.

  47.  Catch away.

  † a.  trans. To chase away. Obs. See 1.

c. 1325.  Metr. Hom., 151. Alle thar kache me away.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 57. Cachyn away, abigo.

  b.  To seize and take away, snatch away.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., B. 1275. Pay [Nebuchadnezzar’s army] caȝt away þat condelestik.

1611.  Bible, Matt. xiii. 19. Then commeth the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sowen in his heart.

1711.  Spect., No. 524, ¶ 8. These would sometimes very narrowly miss being catched away.

  † 48.  To catch forth, trans. To drive out. Obs.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 2710. Caches furthe his cold wirdis.

  † 49.  Catch off. trans. To snatch or take off. Obs. See 19.

c. 1420.  Anturs of Arth., xlix. Wilfulle Waynour Keȝte of hur curonalle.

  50.  Catch on. a. See 1 and 2.

  b.  intr. To attach or fix oneself to, join on, catch hold of. colloq.

1884.  Lisbon (Dakota) Star, 27 June. Now is the time to catch on in order to keep up with the procession.

1885.  Milnor (Dakota) Free Press, 28 March, 1/5. His sagacious mind immediately recognized and caught on to the only plan of salvation in sight.

  c.  U.S. To apprehend; = 35. colloq.

1884.  Cambridge (Mass.) Tribune, 18 July. He Didn’t Catch-On to the Pronunciation.

1885.  J. Hawthorne, Love or Name, 97. I don’t think I catch on.

  d.  To ‘take,’ make its way. colloq.

1887.  Pall Mall Gaz., 9 March, 1/2. A publisher never knows whether a new book will ‘catch on.’

  51.  Catch out. See 1 and 2. b. Cricket: see 24 c.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 331. Þe Inglis þe katched out.

1340.  Ayenb., 171. Ase þet hote weter cacheþ þane hond out of þe kechene.

  52.  Catch over. To freeze over: see 31 b.

  53.  Catch up.

  a.  trans. To raise or carry suddenly aloft.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., C. 102. Cachen vp þe crossayl, cables þay fasten.

1611.  Bible, 2 Cor. xii. 2. Caught vp to the third heauen.

1678.  Bunyan, Pilgr., I. 33. I saw many catch’d up and carried away into the Clouds.

1873.  Browning, Red Cott. Nt.-cap, 234. An angel caught you up and clapped you down.

  b.  To take up or lift suddenly.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 13027. He comaund the corse cacche vp onone.

1602.  Shaks., Ham., II. ii. 532. A blanket in th’ Alarum of feare caught vp.

1815.  Hist. J. Decastro, I. 112. She catched her feet up as if the floor burned her toes.

  c.  To take up or adopt quickly or eagerly.

1644.  Milton, Areop. (Arb.), 35. This project … was catcht up by our Prelates.

1868.  J. H. Blunt. Ref. Ch. Eng., I. 428. The tone of irreverence … which his followers too often caught up.

1887.  Atlantic Monthly, LX. 281–2. Catching up a popular neologism from the newspapers … they call any man whose habits or garments might seem to throw their own into the second grade a ‘dude.’

  d.  To interrupt, stop, ‘pull up.’

1840.  Dickens, Barn. Rudge, xl. You catch me up so very short.

  e.  To overtake.

1855.  Kingsley, Westw. Ho! II. vi. 184. Think, Sir; if they catch us up—as they are sure to do, knowing the country better than we—how will our shot stand their arrows?

1857.  Trollope, Three Clerks, v. (1874), 55. We shall catch them up … before they leave the park.

1883.  G. Lloyd, Ebb & Flow, II. 242. Come along, or we shall never catch them up.

  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.