| • | 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. |
| • | To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief. |
| • | To take captive, as in a snare or net, or on a hook; as, to catch a bird or fish. |
| • | Hence: To insnare; to entangle. |
| • | To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to catch a melody. |
| • | To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the adjoining building. |
| • | To engage and attach; to please; to charm. |
| • | To get possession of; to attain. |
| • | 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. |
| • | To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to catch one in the act of stealing. |
| • | To reach in time; to come up with; as, to catch a train. |
| • | To attain possession. |
| • | To be held or impeded by entanglement or a light obstruction; as, a kite catches in a tree; a door catches so as not to open. |
| • | To take hold; as, the bolt does not catch. |
| • | To spread by, or as by, infecting; to communicate. |
| • | Act of seizing; a grasp. |
| • | That by which anything is caught or temporarily fastened; as, the catch of a gate. |
| • | 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. |
| • | That which is caught or taken; profit; gain; especially, the whole quantity caught or taken at one time; as, a good catch of fish. |
| • | Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife in matrimony. |
| • | Passing opportunities seized; snatches. |
| • | A slight remembrance; a trace. |
| • | A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's words. |
