Catch vs Scratch - What's the difference?

In countable terms the difference between catch and scratch

is that catch is a fragment of music or poetry. {{jump|fragment of music}} singular while scratch is a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.

As an adjective scratch is

for or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.

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

scratch
English
(wikipedia scratch)
Verb
(es)
To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.

Could you please scratch my back?

* Jonathan Swift

Be mindful, when invention fails, / To scratch your head, and bite your nails.

To rub the skin with rough material causing a sensation of irritation.

I don't like that new scarf because it scratches my neck.

To mark a surface with a sharp object, thereby leaving a scratch (noun).

A real diamond can easily scratch a pane of glass.

To remove, ignore or delete.

Scratch what I said earlier; I was wrong.

When the favorite was scratched from the race, there was a riot at the betting windows.

(music) To produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also ).

(billiards) To commit a foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.

Embarrassingly, he scratched on the break, popping the cue completely off the table.

(billiards, dated, US) To score, not by skilful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.

To write or draw hastily or awkwardly.

* Jonathan Swift

Scratch out a pamphlet.

To dig or excavate with the claws.

Some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.

Derived terms
* scratch one's head * scratch the surface * scratcher * scratchpad * scratchy * scratch an itch * Old Scratch
Synonyms
* scrattle
Noun
(es)
(lb) A disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.

:

:

*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

*:God forbid a shallow scratch should drive / The prince of Wales from such a field as this.

*(Joseph Moxon) (1627-1691)

*:The coarse filemakes deep scratches in the work.

*1709 , (Matthew Prior), '' Henry and Emma, line 503

*:These nails with scratches deform my breast.

*

*:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away, […].}}
An act of scratching the skin to alleviate an itch or irritation.

:

(lb)

#A starting line (originally and simply, a line scratched in the ground), as in boxing.

#:(Grose)

#A technical error of touching or surpassing the starting mark prior to the official start signal in the sporting events of long jump, discus, hammer throw, shot put, and similar. Originally the starting mark was a scratch on the ground but is now a board or precisely indicated mark.

#(lb) An aberration.

##A foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.

## A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.

(label) Money.

*2006 , (Clive James), North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 153:

*:He and Bruce cooked up a script together, and Bruce flew home to raise the scratch .

A feed, usually a mixture of a few common grains, given to chickens.

(lb) Minute, but tender and troublesome, excoriations, covered with scabs, upon the heels of horses which have been used where it is very wet or muddy.

*1887 , James Law, The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser

*:These are exemplified in the scurfy, scaly affections which appear in the bend of the knee (mallenders) and hock (sallenders) and on the lower parts of the limbs, by scratches , and by a scaly exfoliation.

A kind of wig covering only a portion of the head.

Derived terms
* from scratch * scratch-built * start from scratch * Old Scratch
Adjective
(-)
For or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.

This is scratch paper, so go ahead and scribble whatever you want on it.

Hastily assembled; put together in a hurry or from disparate elements.

* 1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford 2004, p. 740:

Bluecoats began crossing the James on June 14 and next day two corps approached Petersburg, which was held by Beauregard with a scratch force of 2,500.

(computing, from scratchpad) Relating to a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary use.

Constructed from whatever materials are to hand.

(sports) (of a player) Of a standard high enough to play without a handicap, i.e. to compete without the benefit of a variation in scoring based on ability.

* {{quote-book
, year=1964 , author=Charles Price , title=The American golfer , page=48 , passage=... the shot that does most to make a genuine scratch golfer is the mashie shot up to the pin — not merely up to the green.}}
Made, done, or happening by chance; arranged with little or no preparation; determined by circumstances; haphazard.

a scratch''' team; a '''scratch''' crew for a boat race; a '''scratch shot in billiards

a scratch race: one without restrictions regarding the entry of competitors

Derived terms
* scratch monkey * scratch sheet
References
* * The Jargon File - Scratch