catch
part of speech
verb (catch, catches, caught, catching); noun (a catch, catches)
meaning for a pupil
1) To catch is to take and hold something that moves, like a ball or a fish. tree →
2) To catch is to get on a bus or train in time. tree →
3) To catch an illness is to get it from someone. tree →
4) To catch is to see or find someone doing something: «I caught him eating sweets». tree →
5) A catch is a hidden problem, or the fish caught. tree →
6) To catch a word or a sound means to hear or understand it, especially when it is quick or quiet. tree →
sense in the lessons
things caught are added; also catching up in a race; phrases «catch up», «catch a cold», «catch a bus», «catch your breath», «catch fire», «what's the catch?»
examples
- He caught 5 fish. tree →
- She catches 3 balls out of 10. tree →
- They caught 12 fish and let 4 go. tree →
- How long until the bus catches up? tree →
- Catch the ball with both hands! tree →
- We ran to catch the bus. tree →
- Wash your hands so you don't catch a cold. tree →
- Paper can catch fire easily. tree →
- The offer was free, but there was a catch. tree →
- Let me catch my breath after running. tree →
- Anon he caught the word Peter. tree →
note
Catching adds to what is held. Trap: «catch up» is a distance or speed comparison: time = gap ÷ difference of speeds. Past form «caught», not «catched». «Out of 10» names a whole.
In the corpora
- Morning sickness usually gets better after about three or four months, and it is not catching.
- An annual check-up is a routine visit to catch problems early, even when you feel fine.
- Dentists check teeth every six months to a year to catch small problems, like holes, before they hurt.
- Being glad for someone's success without hunting for a catch is part of being a good neighbour.
- Tools that claim to catch AI make mistakes too, and scammers can now fake a whole video call.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «catch» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.