Catch vs Break - What's the difference?

catch | break | Synonyms |

Catch is a synonym of break.

As nouns the difference between catch and break

is that catch is (countable) the act of seizing or capturing (jump) while break is break.

As a verb catch

is (lb) to capture, overtake .

catch

English

Noun

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

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

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

The player made an impressive catch .

Nice catch !

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

Good catch . I never would have remembered that.

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

The kids love to play catch .

(countable) A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse.

Did you see his latest catch ?

He's a good catch .

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

The fishermen took pictures of their catch .

The catch amounted to five tons of swordfish.

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

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

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

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

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

Be careful, that's a catch question.

(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.

(countable) A fragment of music or poetry. (jump)

* {{quote-book, 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, chapter=The Tutor's Daughter, Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page=266 citation

, passage=In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.}}

(obsolete) A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush.

* {{quote-book, 1678,

, passage=You lie at the catch again: this is not for edification.}}

* T. Fuller

The common and the canon law lie at catch , and wait advantages one against another.

(countable, agriculture) A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.

* {{quote-book, 1905, , Eighth Biennial Report of the Board of Horticulture of the State of Oregon, page=204 citation

, passage=There was a good catch of rye and a good fall growth.}}

(obsolete) A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch.

* 1612 , John Smith, Map of Virginia , in Kupperman 1988, p. 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.

(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 , , act 3 scene 2

Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch / You taught me but while-ere?

* {{quote-book, 1966, Allen Tate, T. S. Eliot: The Man and His Work, page=76 citation
, passage=One night, I remember, we sang a catch , written (words and music) by Orlo Williams, for three voices. }}
(countable, music) The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse. (jump)

* {{quote-book, 2003, Robert Hugh Benson, Come Rack! Come Rope!, page=268 citation
, passage=The phrase repeated itself like the catch of a song. }}
(countable, cricket, baseball) The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out.

* {{quote-news, 1997, May 10, Henry Blofeld, Cricket: Rose and Burns revive Somerset, The Independent citation
, passage=It was he who removed Peter Bowler with the help of a good catch at third slip.}}
(countable, cricket) A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well.

* {{quote-news, 1894, September 16, , To Meet Lord Hawke's Team, The New York Times citation
, passage=
(countable, rowing) The first contact of an oar with the water.

* {{quote-news, 1935, June 7, Robert F. Kelley, California Crews Impress at Debut, The New York Times, page=29 citation
, passage= They are sitting up straighter, breaking their arms at the catch' and getting on a terrific amount of power at the ' catch with each stroke.}}
(countable, phonetics) A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.

* {{quote-book, 2006, Mitsugu Sakihara et al., Okinawan-English Wordbook citation
, passage=The glottal stop or glottal catch is the sound used in English in the informal words uh-huh 'yes' and uh-uh 'no'.}}
Passing opportunities seized; snatches.

* John Locke

It has been writ by catches with many intervals.

A slight remembrance; a trace.

* Glanvill

We retain a catch of those pretty stories.

Synonyms

* (jump) seizure, capture, collar, snatch * grasp, snatch * observation * prize, find; conquest, beau * (jump) haul, take * stop, chock; clasp, latch * snag, problem; trick, gimmick, hitch * (jump) snatch, fragment; snippet, bit * (jump) chorus, refrain, burden

Derived terms

* bycatch * catch fence * catchful * catchy * crowd catch

Verb

(lb) To capture, overtake.

#(lb) To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape). (jump)

#:

#(lb) To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive.

#*1611 , :

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

# To marry or enter into a similar relationship with.

#*1933 , (Sinclair Lewis), Ann Vickers , p.108:

#*:The publicsaid 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..

#(lb) To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc.

#:

#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 28, author=Jon Smith, work=BBC Sport
, title= Valencia 1-1 Chelsea , passage=The visitors started brightly and had an early chance when Valencia's experienced captain David Albeda gifted the ball to Fernando Torres, but the striker was caught by defender Adil Rami as he threatened to shoot.}}
#(lb) To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for.

#:

#(lb) To discover unexpectedly; to surprise (someone doing something).

#:

#(lb) To travel by means of.

#:

#*1987 , , In the Name of the Father , p.111:

#*:After about a kilometer I caught a taxi to Santa Croce.

#

#*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.

(lb) To seize hold of.

#

#:

#*, III.2:

#*:Her aged Nourse, whose name was Glaucè hight, / Feeling her leape out of her loathed nest, / Betwixt her feeble armes her quickly keight .

#(lb) To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep.

#:

#(lb) To grip or entangle.

#:

#(lb) To be held back or impeded.

#:

#*

#*:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

#(lb) To engage with some mechanism; to stick, to succeed in interacting with something or initiating some process. (jump)

#:

#(lb) To have something be held back or impeded.

#:

#(lb) To make a grasping or snatching motion (at).

#:

#(lb) Of fire, to spread or be conveyed to.

#:

#

#*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.

#

#:

# 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.

#

#:

(lb) To intercept.

#(lb) To seize or intercept a object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium).

#:

#

#*1811 , (Jane Austen), (Sense and Sensibility) , :

#*:she internally resolved henceforward to catch every opportunity of eyeing the hair and of satisfying herself,.

#

#:

#

#:

(lb) To receive (by being in the way).

#(lb) To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.).

#:

#(lb) To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure.

#:

#(lb) To be infected by (an illness).

#:

#(lb) To spread by infection or similar means.

#*(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)

#*:Does the sedition catch from man to man?

#*(Mary Martha Sherwood) (1775–1851)

#*: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 ."

#

#:

#*2003 , Jerry Dennis, The Living Great Lakes , p.63:

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

#(lb) To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection.

#:

#(lb) To be hit by something. (jump)

#:

#(lb) To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish.

#*{{quote-book, year=1877, title= Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, page=135
, passage=The nets caught well, and Mr. Deeley reported it the best fishing ground he ever tried.}}
# To get pregnant.

#:

(lb) To take in with one's senses or intellect.

#(lb) To grasp mentally: perceive and understand. (jump)

#:

#*

#*:“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.

#(lb) To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment).

#:

#(lb) To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully.

#:

(lb) To seize attention, interest.

#(lb) To charm or entrance.

#*2004 , Catherine Asaro, The Moon's Shadow , p.40:

#*:No, a far more natural beauty caught him.

#(lb) To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense).

#:

Synonyms

* (jump) fang, snatch, grab * (jump) capture, take; snare, hook * (jump) take, get

Antonyms

* drop, release

Derived terms

(Terms derived from the verb "to catch") * catchable * catchall * catchbasin * catcher * catch-breath * catch cold * catch a cold * catch a crab * catch a tan * catch as catch can * catch fire * catch it * catch on * catch out * catch over * catch up * caught in the act

break
English
(wikipedia break)
Verb

(intransitive) To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.

If the vase falls to the floor, it might break .

She broke the vase.

# (intransitive) To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain.

His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest.

She broke his neck.

He slipped on the ice and broke his leg.

(US) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.

''Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?

The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers.

To cause (a person) to lose his or her spirit or will; to crush the spirits of; to ruin (a person) emotionally.

Her child's death broke Angela.

Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war.

* Shakespeare

an old man, broken with the storms of state

To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.

My heart is breaking .

To cause (a person or animal) to lose its will.

You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden.

The interrogator hoped to break her to get her testimony against her accomplices.

To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.

I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails.

to break''' silence; to '''break''' one's sleep; to '''break one's journey

I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck.

* Shakespeare

Go, release them, Ariel; / My charms I'll break , their senses I'll restore.

To ruin financially.

The recession broke some small businesses.

* Dryden

With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, / Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks .

To violate, to not adhere to.

When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law.

He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.

break one's word

Time travel would break'' the laws of physics.

* Milton

Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts / To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.

(of a fever) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, temperaturewise.

Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over.

To design or use a powerful (yet legal) strategy that unbalances the game in a player's favor.

Letting white have three extra queens would break chess.

(intransitive) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke .

Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?

# To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.

Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.

To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

break a seal

# (specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible.

# (specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination or the like.

(of a wave of water) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.

To end.

The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek.

To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.

* Shakespeare

The clouds are still above; and, while I speak, / A second deluge o'er our head may break .

* Wordsworth

And from the turf a fountain broke , / And gurgled at our feet.

To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.

Let's break for lunch.

To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object not hit something else beneath.

He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.

(ergative) To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.

The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous.

I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.

In the latest breaking news...

When news of their divorce broke , ...

(of morning) To arrive.

Morning has broken .

* Shakespeare

The day begins to break , and night is fled.

(of a sound) To become audible suddenly.

* , The Battle-Day of Germantown'', reprinted in ''Washington and His Generals "1776" , page 45 [http://google.com/books?id=EM-qNjWrI9YC&pg=PA45&dq=%22sound+of+musquetry%22]:

Like the crash of thunderbolts.

To change a steady state abruptly.

His coughing broke the silence.

His turning on the lights broke the enchantment.

With the mood broken , what we had been doing seemed pretty silly.

(copulative, informal) To suddenly become.

Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died.

The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly.

Of a voice, to alter in type: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.

His voice breaks when he gets emotional.

To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record.

He broke the men's 100-meter record.

I can't believe she broke 3 under par!

The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief.

(sports, and, games):

# (tennis) To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.

He needs to break serve to win the match.

#* {{quote-news, year=2012
, date=June 28 , author=Jamie Jackson , title=Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=Yet when play restarted the Czech was a train that kept on running over Nadal. After breaking Nadal in the opening game of the final set, he went 2-0 up and later took the count to 4-2 with yet another emphatic ace – one of his 22 throughout.}}
# (intransitive, billiards, snooker, pool) To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.

Is it your or my turn to break ?

# (backgammon) To remove one of the two men on (a point).

To demote, to reduce the military rank of.

* 1953 February 9, “ Books: First Rulers of Asia”, in Time :

And he played no favorites: when his son-in-law sacked a city he had been told to spare, Genghis broke him to private.

* 1968 , , Back Bay (2003), ISBN 978-0-316-52940-2, page 215:

One morning after the budget had failed to balance Finanzminister von Scholz picked up Der Reichsanzeiger and found he had been broken to sergeant.

* 2006 , , Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty , Second Edition, Artisan Books, ISBN 978-1-57965-314-9, page 42:

Not long after this event, Clausen became involved in another disciplinary situation and was broken to private—the only one to win the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

To end (a connection), to disconnect.

The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch.

The referee broke the boxers' clinch.

I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.

(of an emulsion) To demulsify.

* '>citation

* '>citation

(sports) To counter-attack

* {{quote-news, year=2010
, date=December 28 , author=Kevin Darlin , title=West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Baggies almost hit back instantly when Graham Dorrans broke from midfield and pulled the trigger from 15 yards but Paul Robinson did superbly to tip the Scot's drive around the post. }}
(obsolete) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

* Shakespeare

Katharine, break thy mind to me.

To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

* Jonathan Swift

See how the dean begins to break ; / Poor gentleman he droops apace.

(obsolete) To fail in business; to become bankrupt.

* Francis Bacon

He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break , and come to poverty.

To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

The cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

to break flax

To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

* Jonathan Swift

I see a great officer broken .

To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.

to break into a run or gallop

(archaic) To fall out; to terminate friendship.

* Collier

To break upon the score of danger or expense is to be mean and narrow-spirited.

Quotations
* (English Citations of "break")
Usage notes
The sense relating to a spell of weather is most likely to be used after a period of persistent good or bad weather; it is rarely used to signify the end of short-lived conditions. In colloquial use, the past participle is sometimes 'broke' instead of 'broken,' as in the expression "."
Synonyms
* burst, bust, shatter, shear, smash, split * crack, fracture * subject, tame * contravene, go against, violate * break down, bust, fail, go down (of a computer or computer network)
Antonyms
* assemble, fix, join, mend, put together, repair * hold
Derived terms
* breakage * break a leg * break apart * break away * break bad * break bread * break down * breaker * break even * break in * break into * break loose * break new ground * break off * break one's fast * break open * break out * break rank * break someone's heart * break stride * break the ice * break through * break up * break wind * icebreaker * make-or-break * outbreak * be on a break
See also
* breaking * broke * broken
Noun
(en noun)
An instance of breaking something into two pieces.

The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily.

A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.

The sun came out in a break in the clouds.

He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway.

(music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.

The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.

A rest or pause, usually from work; a breaktime.

Let’s take a five-minute break .

A temporary split (with a romantic partner).

I think we need a break.

An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.

* {{quote-news, year=2010
, date=December 29 , author=Chris Whyatt , title=Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But they marginally improved after the break as Didier Drogba hit the post. }}
A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention: big break, lucky break, bad break.

(British, weather) a change; the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather

The beginning (of the morning).

daybreak

at the break of day

An act of escaping.

make a break for it

make a break for the door

It was a clean break .

prison break

(surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.

:

# (tennis) A game won by the receiving player(s).

# (billiards, snooker, pool) The first shot in a game of billiards

# (snooker) The number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table

# (soccer) The counter-attack

#* {{quote-news, year=2010
, date=December 28 , author=Owen Phillips , title=Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Blackpool were not without their opportunities - thanks to their willingness to commit and leave men forward even when under severe pressure - and they looked very capable of scoring on the break . }}
(dated) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

A sharp bit or snaffle.

* Gascoigne

Pampered jades which need nor break nor bit.

Usage notes
* (music) The instruments that are named are the ones that carry on playing, for example a (fiddle break) implies that the fiddle is the most prominent instrument playing during the break.
Synonyms
* (instance of breaking something into two pieces) split * (physical space that opens up in something or between two things) breach, gap, space * (sense) time out
Derived terms
* beach break * bio-break * break point * century break * clean break * daybreak * give someone a break * heartbreak * jailbreak * make a break for it * maximum break * point break * take a break
Statistics
*
Anagrams
* (l), (l) * (l) English ergative verbs English irregular verbs English terms with homophones 1000 English basic words ----