Catcall

A squeaking instrument, used in the play-house to condemn plays. Catch, ( kach ,) v. a. (pp. CATCHED OF CAUGHT.) (Probably of the same origin as chase ; Du. ketzen , to chase; Fr. cha er; catch seems also allied to clutch , latch , snatch; Scot. claught ; Gael. glae , to seize, to catch.] To pursue, overtake, and seize; to lay hold on; to take and hold fast; to seize by pursuit; as, to catch a ball. "I saw him run after a gilded butterfly, and when he caught it, he let it go again." - Shaks. -To ensnare; to entangle; to apprehend; as, to catch a thief. "These artificial methods of reasoning are more adapted to catch and entangle the mind than to instruct and inform the understanding." - Locke. -To communicate to; to fasten upon; to seize; as, the building caught fire. "Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." - Pope . -To please; to charm; to engage the affections. "And want the soothing arts that catch the fair, But, caught myself, lie struggling in the snare." -Dryden. -To receive by contagion, infection, or sympathy; to be seized with; as, to catch a disease. "Proud to catch cold at a Venetian door." - Pope. -To find; to come upon by surprise; as, to catch a person in a good humor. " Catch , then, O catch the transient hour." - Johnson. -To overtake; to intercept; to come up with; as, to catch a companion. -v. i. To lay hold; to seize and hold; as, the hook catches. "The catching fire might burn the golden caul." - Dryden. -To spread by infecting; to be contagious; to communicate. IMG:content-0086.png:[blocks in formation] "That she would fain the catch of Strephon fly."- Sidney. -Anything that seizes or takes hold, as a hook. -Posture of seizing; watching an opportunity to seize. "Both of them lay upon the catch for a great action." -Add is on. -A sudden advantage taken; a snatch; a hold. "Fate of empires, and the fall of kings, Should turn on flying hours, and catch of moments." - Dryden. -Profit; advantage; gain; that which is caught or taken. "Hector shall have a great catch , if he knock out your brains." Shaks. -The whole quantity caught at one time; as, a great catch of fish. (Mech.) A contrivance in machinery acting on the principle of the latch. (Mus.) A species of musical composition peculiar to social parties over a gla . The music is generally for three voices, of which there exist hundreds of specimens from the time of Purcell to the present day. As in the canon, each voice takes up the subject at a certain distance after the first has begun. Catch, Cutch, n. (Com.) The commercial name of CATECHU. Catch'able, a . Capable of being captured or caught. (R.) Catch'-drain, n. ( Agric .) An open drain acro a declivity to intercept surface-water. The term is sometimes also applied to under-drains acro a declivity. Catch'er, n. One who, or that which, catches. Catch'-fly, n. ( Bot .) See SILENE. Catch'ing, n. Seizure; capture; arrest. Catch'ing-bargain, n. ( Law . ) An agreement made with an heir expectant, for the purchase of his expectancy at an inadequate price. Catch-land, n. In England, border-land; land of uncertain appropriation. Catch-meadow, ( kach - med'õ,) n. ( Agric .) Gra land, with a very regular sloping surface, subjected to irrigation; the water as it descends the declivities being intercepted by catch-drains.