different between catch vs couple

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

Alternative forms

• copel (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin c?pula. Doublet of copula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?p?l/
• Rhymes: -?p?l

Noun

couple (plural couples)

1. Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.
   • 1729, Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

     I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; […]

2. Two of the same kind connected or considered together.

   A couple fewer people show up every week.

   • 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby

     […] couple of tables; one of which bore some preparations for supper; while, on the other […]

3. (informal) A small number.
   • 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby

     A couple of billiard balls, all mud and dirt, two battered hats, a champagne bottle […]

   • 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Red-Headed League

     ‘Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and it need not interfere very much with one’s other occupations.’

   • 1902, A. Henry Savage Landor, Across Coveted Lands:

     When we got on board again after a couple of hours on shore […]
4. One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
5. (physics) Two forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction (and acting along parallel lines), thus creating the turning effect of a torque or moment.
6. (architecture) A couple-close.
7. (obsolete) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.

   • I’ll keep my stables where
     I lodge my wife; I’ll go in couples with her;

Usage notes

• A traditional and still broadly accepted usage of couple is as a noun followed by "of" to mean "two", as in "a couple of people". In this usage, "a couple of" is equivalent to "a pair of".

• The very widespread use of the same expression (e.g. "a couple of people") to mean any small number is often considered informal but is in fact very old and often considered unobjectionable on all levels of style, sometimes even contradictorily by the same publication that labels this use as informal elsewhere on the same page, e.g. the American Heritage Dictionary.

  The farm is a couple of miles off the main highway [= a few miles away].

  We’re going out to a restaurant with a couple of friends [= a few friends].

  Wait a couple of minutes [= a few minutes].

• Couple or a couple is also used informally and formally as an adjective or determiner (see definition below) to mean "a few", in which case it is not followed by "of". Many usage manuals advise against this widespread use although the Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out that this use before a word indicating degree is standard in both US and UK English (e.g. "a couple more examples" or "a couple less problems"). Only its use before an ordinary plural noun is an Americanism, which the dictionary explains is "common in speech and in writing that is not meant to be formal or elevated". This use is especially frequent with numbers, time, and other measurements, such as "a couple hundred", "a couple minutes", and "a couple dozen".

Synonyms

• (two partners):
• (two things of the same kind): brace, pair; see also Thesaurus:duo
• (a small number of): few, handful

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

couple (not comparable)

1. (informal, US) Two or (a) small number of.

Determiner

couple

1. (colloquial, US) Two or a few, a small number of.

Verb

couple (third-person singular simple present couples, present participle coupling, simple past and past participle coupled)

1. (transitive) To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).

   Now the conductor will couple the train cars.

   I've coupled our system to theirs.

2. (transitive, dated) To join in wedlock; to marry.
3. (intransitive) To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.
   • 1987 Alan Norman Bold & Robert Giddings, Who was really who in fiction, Longman

     On their wedding night they coupled nine times.

   • 2001 John Fisher & Geoff Garvey, The rough guide to Crete, p405

     She had the brilliant inventor and craftsman Daedalus construct her an artificial cow, in which she hid and induced the bull to couple with her [...]

Synonyms

• (to join together): affix, attach, put together; see also Thesaurus:join
• (to join in wedlock): bewed, espouse; see also Thesaurus:marry
• (to join in sexual intercourse): have sex, make love; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Derived terms

• coupling (noun)
• coupling rod (a rod that couples)
• decouple, decoupled
• uncouple

Translations

References

Anagrams

• culpeo

French

Etymology

From Old French couple, from Vulgar Latin *c?pla, from Latin c?pula. Doublet of copule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kupl/

Noun

couple m (plural couples)

1. two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship

2. (physics) a force couple; a pure moment
3. (mathematics) an ordered pair

Noun

couple f (plural couples)

1. (animal husbandry) An accessory used to tightly attach two animals next to each other by the neck.
2. (regional) a pair of something.
3. (Canada) a couple of something, not to be mistaken as a few.

Related terms

• couplage
• coupler

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• copule, copulé

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French couple, from Latin c?pula.

Alternative forms

• cuple, copull, cupple, cople, coupull, cowpulle, copill, cupil

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kup?l/, /?kupl?/, /?ku?p?l/

Noun

couple (plural couples or couple)

1. A couple; two people joined by a marital union or matrimony.
2. A pair of animals of opposing genders (in a breeding context)
3. A group of two things or animals, a pair (never three or more as in modern English)
4. A lead or tie linked to two dogs and used to restrain them.
5. A measurement for fruits, especially when dried.
6. (architecture) One of two opposing roof beams (or the two as a pair)
7. (rare) Sexual intercourse; the act of sex.

Derived terms

• couplen
• couplyng

Descendants

• English: couple
• Scots: couple, kipple

References

• “c?uple, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-06.

Etymology 2

Verb

couple

1. Alternative form of couplen

Old French

Alternative forms

• cople
• cuple

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *copla, from Latin c?pula.

Noun

couple f (oblique plural couples, nominative singular couple, nominative plural couples)

1. couple (two things)
2. sexual liaison

Usage notes

• Occasionally used as a masculine noun (le couple)

Descendants