different between catch vs swag

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

• (US) IPA^(key): /swæ?/
• Rhymes: -æ?

Etymology 1

From Middle English *swaggen, swagen, swoggen, probably from Old Norse sveggja (“to swing, sway”). Compare dialectal Norwegian svaga (“to sway, swing, stagger”).

Verb

swag (third-person singular simple present swags, present participle swagging, simple past and past participle swagged)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) sway.

   Synonyms: sway, lurch
2. (intransitive) To droop; to sag.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir H. Wotton to this entry?)

   • 1530, John Palsgrave, L'esclarcissement de la langue francoyse

     I swagge as a fatte persos belly swaggeth as he goth.

3. (transitive) To decorate (something) with loops of draped fabric.
4. (transitive) To install (a ceiling fan or light fixture) by means of a long cord running from the ceiling to an outlet, and suspended by hooks or similar.
   • 1991, Kalton C. Lahue, Cheryl Smith, Interior Lighting (page 19)

     Hooks come with screws for use in plaster or wood and toggles for use in wallboard. One hook should be sufficient to swag a lamp from a ceiling outlet.

Noun

swag (plural swags)

1. (window coverings) A loop of draped fabric.
   • 2005, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 438:

     He looked in bewilderment at number 24, the final house with its regalia of stucco swags and bows.

2. A low point or depression in land; especially, a place where water collects.
   • 1902, D. G. Simmons, "The Influence of Contaminated Water in the Development of Diseases", The American Practitioner and News, 34: 182.

     Whenever the muddy water would accumulate in the swag the water from the well in question would become muddy […] After the water in the swag had all disappeared through the sink-hole the well water would again become clear.

Derived terms

• swagger

Etymology 2

Clipping of swagger. A common pseudo-etymology is the derivation as acronym for “secretly we are gay”, or other unlikely phrases.

Noun

swag (uncountable)

1. (slang) Style; fashionable appearance or manner.
   • 2009, Mark Anthony Archer, Exile, page 119

     Now this dude got swag, and he was pushing up on me but, it wasn't like we was kicking it or anything!

Derived terms

• swag it out

Etymology 3

From 18th c. British thieves' slang.

Noun

swag (plural swags)

1. (obsolete, thieves' cant) A shop and its goods; any quantity of goods. [18th c.]

   Synonym: stock

2. (thieves' cant, uncountable) Stolen goods; the booty of a burglar or thief; boodle. [18th c.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:booty

   • 1838, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter 19:

     “It?s all arranged about bringing off the swag, is it?” asked the Jew. Sikes nodded.

   • 1971 November 22, Frank E. Emerson, “They Can Get It For You BETTER Than Wholesale”, New York Magazine, page 38

     He was on his way to call on other dealers to check out their swag and to see if he could trade away some of his leftover odds and ends.

4. (uncountable) Handouts, freebies, or giveaways, such as those handed out at conventions. [late 20th c.]
5. (countable, Australia, dated) The possessions of a bushman or itinerant worker, tied up in a blanket and carried over the shoulder, sometimes attached to a stick.
6. (countable, Australia, by extension) A small single-person tent, usually foldable into an integral backpack.
7. (countable, Australia, New Zealand) A large quantity (of something).
   • 2010 August 31, "Hockey: Black Sticks lose World Cup opener", The New Zealand Herald:

     New Zealand wasted a swag of chances to lose their opening women?s hockey World Cup match.

Derived terms

• swagful, swagless
• (shop): rum swag, swag barrow
• (stolen goods): swag bag, swag chovey bloke, swagsman (“fence”)
• (itinerant's belongings): swagman

Verb

swag (third-person singular simple present swags, present participle swagging, simple past and past participle swagged)

1. (Australia, transitive, intransitive) To travel on foot carrying a swag (possessions tied in a blanket). [From 1850s.]
   • 1880, James Coutts Crawford, Recollections of Travel in New Zealand and Australia, page 259,

     He told me that times had been bad at Invercargill, and that he had started for fresh pastures, had worked his passage up as mate in a small craft from the south, and, arriving in Port Underwood, had swagged his calico tent over the hill, and was now living in it, pitched in the manuka scrub.

   • 1976, Pembroke Arts Club, The Anglo-Welsh Review, page 158,

     That such a man was swagging in the Victoria Bush at the age of fifty-one requires explanation.

   • 2006, Inga Clendinnen, The History Question: Who Owns the Past?, Quarterly Essay, Issue 23, page 3,

     The plot is straightforward. A swagman is settling down by a billabong after a hard day?s swagging.

   • 2011, Penelope Debelle, Red Silk: The Life of Elliott Johnston QC, page 21,

     Over the Christmas of 1939, just three months after Britain and Australia had declared war on Germany, they went swagging together for a week and slept out under the stars in the Adelaide Hills, talking, walking and reading.

2. To transport stolen goods.

Derived terms

• swaggie
• swagman
• swag it

Translations

Etymology 4

Noun

swag (plural swags)

1. Alternative letter-case form of SWAG; a wild guess or ballpark estimate.

   I can take a swag at the answer, but it may not be right.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• AWGs, GWAS, WAGs, wags

Old Frisian

Etymology

From a word referring to the fence around a pasture; cf. Old Norse sveigr (“supple branch, headkerchief”), ultimately from a root meaning to bend or twist.

Noun

sw?g f

1. pasture

Descendants

• Dutch: Zwaag
• Frisian: sweach, swaech

Further reading

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010) , “zwaag”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute