Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Catch \Catch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Caught}or {Catched}; 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.]
   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.

   2. To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief.
      ``They pursued . . . and caught him.'' --Judg. i. 6.

   3. To take captive, as in a snare or net, or on a hook; as,
      to catch a bird or fish.

   4. Hence: To insnare; to entangle. ``To catch him in his
      words''. --Mark xii. 13.

   5. To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to
      catch a melody. ``Fiery thoughts . . . whereof I catch the
      issue.'' --Tennyson.

   6. To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the
      adjoining building.

   7. To engage and attach; to please; to charm.

            The soothing arts that catch the fair. --Dryden.

   8. To get possession of; to attain.

            Torment myself to catch the English throne. --Shak.

   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.

   10. To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to
       catch one in the act of stealing.

   11. To reach in time; to come up with; as, to catch a train.

   {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.