different between catch vs clip

English

Etymology

From Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, from Late Latin capti?re, present active infinitive of capti?, from Latin capt?, frequentative of capi?. Akin to Modern French chasser (from Old French chacier) and Spanish cazar, and thus a doublet of chase. Displaced Middle English fangen ("to catch"; > Modern English fang (verb)), from Old English f?n (“to seize, take”); Middle English lacchen ("to catch"; > Modern English latch), from Old English læ??an.

The verb became irregular, possibly under the influence of the semantically similar latch (from Old English læ??an) whose past tense was lahte, lauhte, laught (Old English læhte) until becoming regularised in Modern English.

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?ch, IPA^(key): /kæt??/
• (US) enPR: k?ch, k?ch, IPA^(key): /kæt??/, /k?t??/
  • Noah Webster's American Dictionary (1828) regards /k?t?/ as the "popular or common pronunciation." It is labeled "not infreq[uent]" in Kenyon & Knott (1949).
• Rhymes: -æt?, -?t?

Noun

catch (countable and uncountable, plural catches)

1. (countable) The act of seizing or capturing.

   The catch of the perpetrator was the product of a year of police work.

2. (countable) The act of catching an object in motion, especially a ball.

   The player made an impressive catch.

   Nice catch!

3. (countable) The act of noticing, understanding or hearing.

   Good catch. I never would have remembered that.

4. (uncountable) The game of catching a ball.

   The kids love to play catch.

5. (countable) Something which is captured or caught.

   The fishermen took pictures of their catch.

   The catch amounted to five tons of swordfish.

6. (countable, colloquial, by extension) A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse.

   Did you see his latest catch?

   He's a good catch.

7. (countable) A stopping mechanism, especially a clasp which stops something from opening.

   She installed a sturdy catch to keep her cabinets closed tight.

8. (countable) A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion.

   There was a catch in his voice when he spoke his father's name.

9. (countable, sometimes noun adjunct) A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation.

   It sounds like a great idea, but what's the catch?

   Be careful, that's a catch question.

10. (countable) A crick; a sudden muscle pain during unaccustomed positioning when the muscle is in use.

    I bent over to see under the table and got a catch in my side.

11. (countable) A fragment of music or poetry.
12. (obsolete) A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush.
    • The common and the canon law […] lie at catch, and wait advantages one against another.

13. (countable, agriculture) A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.
14. (obsolete) A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch.
    • 1612, John Smith, Map of Virginia, in Kupperman 1988, page 158:

      Fourteene miles Northward from the river Powhatan, is the river Pamaunke, which is navigable 60 or 70 myles, but with Catches and small Barkes 30 or 40 myles farther.

15. (countable, music) A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics.
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3 scene 2

      Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch / You taught me but while-ere?
16. (countable, music) The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse.
18. (countable, cricket, baseball) The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out.
19. (countable, cricket) A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well.
20. (countable, rowing) The first contact of an oar with the water.
21. (countable, phonetics) A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.
22. Passing opportunities seized; snatches.
    • , Introduction

      the way it has been writ in, by catches, and many long intervals of interruption

23. A slight remembrance; a trace.
    • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica

      We retain a catch of those pretty stories.

Synonyms

• (act of capturing): seizure, capture, collar, snatch
• (the act of catching a ball): grasp, snatch
• (act of noticing): observation
• (a find): prize, find; conquest, beau
• (quantity captured): haul, take
• (stopping mechanism): stop, chock; clasp, hasp, latch
• (hidden difficulty): snag, problem; trick, gimmick, hitch
• (fragment of music): snatch, fragment; snippet, bit
• (refrain): chorus, refrain, burden

Derived terms

See combined section below.

Translations

Verb

catch (third-person singular simple present catches, present participle catching, simple past and past participle caught)

1. (heading) To capture, overtake.
   1. (transitive) To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape). [from 13^thc.]

   2. (transitive) To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive. [from 14^thc.]
      • 1611, Authorized King James Version, Mark 12:13:

        And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

   3. (transitive, figuratively, dated) To marry or enter into a similar relationship with.
      • 1933, Sinclair Lewis, Ann Vickers, p.108:

        The public […] said that Miss Bogardus was a suffragist because she had never caught a man; that she wanted something, but it wasn't the vote.

      • 2006, Michael Collier and Georgia Machemer, Medea, p.23:

        As for Aspasia, concubinage with Pericles brought her as much honor as she could hope to claim in Athens. […] from the moment she caught her man, this influential, unconventional woman became a lightning rod […].

   4. (transitive) To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc. [from 16^thc.]
   5. (transitive) To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for. [from 17^thc.]
      • 2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1):

        Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Did anyone catch the Charlie Rose the evening before last. Did you catch it? No, nothing?

   6. (transitive) To unpleasantly discover unexpectedly; to unpleasantly surprise (someone doing something). [from 17^thc.]

   8. (transitive) To travel by means of. [from 19^thc.]
      • 1987, A.J. Quinnell, In the Name of the Father, p.111:

        After about a kilometer I caught a taxi to Santa Croce.

   9. (transitive, rare) To become pregnant. (Only in past tense or as participle.) [from 19^thc.]
      • 2002, Orpha Caton, Shadow on the Creek, pp.102-103:

        Had Nancy got caught with a child? If so she would destroy her parent's dreams for her.

2. (heading) To seize hold of.
   1. (transitive, dated) To grab, seize, take hold of. [from 13^thc.]
   2. (transitive) To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep. [from 14^thc.]

   3. (transitive) To grip or entangle. [from 17^thc.]

   4. (intransitive) To be held back or impeded.
   5. (intransitive) To engage with some mechanism; to stick, to succeed in interacting with something or initiating some process.

   6. (transitive) To have something be held back or impeded.

   7. (intransitive) To make a grasping or snatching motion (at). [from 17^thc.]

   8. (transitive) Of fire, to spread or be conveyed to. [from 18^thc.]

   9. (transitive, rowing) To grip (the water) with one's oars at the beginning of the stroke. [from 19^thc.]
      • 1906, Arthur W. Stevens, Practical Rowing with Scull and Sweep, p.63:

        Stop gathering, in that gradual fashion, and catch the water sharply and decisively.

   10. (intransitive, agriculture) To germinate and set down roots. [from 19^thc.]

   11. (transitive, surfing) To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore.
       • 2001, John Lull, Sea Kayaking Safety & Rescue, p.203:

         If you are surfing a wave through the rocks, make sure you have a clear route before catching the wave.

   12. (transitive, computing) To handle an exception. [from 20^thc.]

3. (heading) To intercept.
   1. (transitive) To seize or intercept an object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium). [from 16^thc.]

   2. (transitive, now rare) To seize (an opportunity) when it occurs. [from 16^thc.]
      • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 18:

        she internally resolved henceforward to catch every opportunity of eyeing the hair and of satisfying herself, […].

   3. (transitive, cricket) To end a player's innings by catching a hit ball before the first bounce. [from 18^thc.]

   4. (transitive, intransitive, baseball) To play (a specific period of time) as the catcher. [from 19^thc.]

4. (heading) To receive (by being in the way).
   1. (transitive) To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.). [from 13^thc.]

   2. (transitive) To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure. [from 13^thc.]

   3. (transitive) To be infected by (an illness). [from 16^thc.]

   4. (intransitive) To spread by infection or similar means.

      • Does the sedition catch from man to man?

      • 1817, Mary Martha Sherwood, Stories Explanatory of the Church Catechism

        He accosted Mrs. Browne very civilly, told her his wife was very ill, and said he was sadly troubled to get a white woman to nurse her: "For," said he, "Mrs. Simpson has set it abroad that her fever is catching."

   5. (transitive, intransitive) To receive or be affected by (wind, water, fire etc.). [from 18^thc.]
      • 2003, Jerry Dennis, The Living Great Lakes, p.63:

        the sails caught and filled, and the boat jumped to life beneath us.

   6. (transitive) To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection. [from 16^thc.]

   7. (transitive) To be hit by something.

   8. (intransitive) To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish.
   9. (intransitive) To get pregnant.

5. (heading) To take in with one's senses or intellect.
   1. (transitive) To grasp mentally: perceive and understand. [from 16^thc.]

      • “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.

   2. (transitive, informal) To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment). [from 20^thc.]

   3. (transitive) To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully. [from 17^thc.]

6. (heading) To seize attention, interest.
   1. (transitive) To charm or entrance. [from 14^thc.]
      • 2004, Catherine Asaro, The Moon's Shadow, p.40

        No, a far more natural beauty caught him.

   2. (transitive) To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense). [from 17^thc.]

7. (heading) To obtain or experience

Conjugation

Usage notes

• The older past and passive participle catched is now nonstandard.

Synonyms

• (seize in motion): fang, snatch, grab
• (capture prey): capture, take; snare, hook
• (be hit): take, get

Antonyms

• drop, release

Translations

Derived terms

References

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English catch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kat?/

Noun

catch m (uncountable)

1. wrestling; professional wrestling

Derived terms

• catcheur

Further reading

• “catch” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: kl?p, IPA^(key): /kl?p/, [kl???p]
• Rhymes: -?p

Etymology 1

From Middle English clippen, cleppen, clüppen, from Old English clyppan (“to hug, embrace, cherish, clasp”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpijan?, from Proto-Indo-European *glemb-, *glemb?- (“lump, clump, clod, clamp”). Cognate with Old Frisian kleppa, klippa (“to hug, embrace”), Middle High German klimpen, klimpfen (“to contract tightly, constrict, squeeze”).

Verb

clip (third-person singular simple present clips, present participle clipping, simple past and past participle clipped)

1. To grip tightly.
2. To fasten with a clip.

3. (archaic) To hug, embrace.
   • 1922 , James Joyce, Ulysses, chapter III:^[1]

     White thy fambles, red thy gan
     And thy quarrons dainty is.
     Couch a hogshead with me then.
     In the darkmans clip and kiss.

4. (slang) To collect signatures, generally with the use of a clipboard.

Translations

Noun

clip (plural clips)

1. Something which clips or grasps; a device for attaching one object to another.

2. An unspecified but normally understood as rapid speed or pace.

3. (obsolete) An embrace.
4. A frame containing a number of bullets which is intended to be inserted into the magazine of a firearm to allow for rapid reloading.
5. A projecting flange on the upper edge of a horseshoe, turned up so as to embrace the lower part of the hoof; a toe clip or beak.
   • 1831-1850, William Youatt, On the Structure and the Diseases of the Horse

     The heel - clips are two clips at the heels of the side bars , which correspond to the toe - clip ; the latter embracing the toe of the crust , whilst the former embrace its heels

6. (fishing, Britain, Scotland) A gaff or hook for landing the fish, as in salmon fishing.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ???? (kurippu)

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English clippen, from Old Norse klippa (“to clip, cut the hair, shear sheep”). Cognate with Icelandic klippa (“to clip”), Swedish klippa (“to clip”), Danish klippe (“to clip”), Norwegian Bokmål klippe (“to clip”).

Verb

clip (third-person singular simple present clips, present participle clipping, simple past and past participle clipt or clipped)

1. To cut, especially with scissors or shears as opposed to a knife etc.
2. To curtail; to cut short.
   • 1712, Jonathan Swift, s:A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue

     In London they clip their words after one manner about the court, another in the city, and a third in the suburbs.

3. (dialectal, informal) To strike with the hand.

4. To hit or strike, especially in passing.

5. (American football) An illegal tackle: Throwing the body across the back of an opponent's leg or hitting him from the back below the waist while moving up from behind unless the opponent is a runner or the action is in close line play.
6. (signal processing) To cut off a signal level at a certain maximum value.
7. (computer graphics) To discard (an occluded part of a model or scene) rather than waste resources on rendering it.
8. (computer graphics, transitive, intransitive) (Of a camera, character model, etc.) To move (through or into) (a rendered object or barrier).
   1. (computer graphics, ergative) To move the camera, a character model, or another object (through or into a rendered object or barrier).

9. To cheat, swindle, or fleece.
10. to grab or take stealthily

Derived terms

• clipjoint, clip-joint, clip joint
• clip it

Translations

Noun

clip (countable and uncountable, plural clips)

1. Something which has been clipped from a larger whole:
   1. The product of a single shearing of sheep.
   2. A season's crop of wool.
   3. A section of video taken from a film, broadcast, or other longer video

   4. A newspaper clipping.
2. An act of clipping, such as a haircut.

3. (uncountable, Tyneside) The condition of something, its state.

4. (informal) A blow with the hand (often in the set phrase clip round the ear)

Derived terms

• clip show

Translations

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• National Football League (2007). Official Rules of the National Football League 2007. Triumph Books.

Anagrams

• ILPC

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English clip.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klip/

Noun

clip m (plural clips)

1. music video
2. clip-on (earring)

Derived terms

• vidéoclip

Further reading

• “clip” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Irish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

clip (present analytic clipeann, future analytic clipfidh, verbal noun clipeadh, past participle clipthe)

1. (transitive) prick; tease, torment
2. (transitive) tire, wear, out

Conjugation

Derived terms

Mutation

Further reading

• "clip" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “clip” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “clip” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English clip.

Noun

clip m (invariable)

1. clip
2. paper clip

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English clip.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?klip/, [?klip]

Noun

clip m (plural clips)

1. paper clip

   Synonym: sujetapapeles

2. clip (something which clips or grasps; a device for attaching one object to another.)

3. clip (a frame containing a number of bullets which is intended to be inserted into the magazine of a firearm to allow for rapid reloading.)

   Synonym: fragmento