Catch vs Match - What's the difference?

catch | match |

As nouns the difference between catch and match

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

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

match
English

Etymology 1
From (etyl) macche, from (etyl)
Noun
(es)
(sports) A competitive sporting event such as a boxing meet, a baseball game, or a cricket match.

My local team are playing in a match against their arch-rivals today.

Any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.

* Drayton

many a warlike match

* Dryden

A solemn match was made; he lost the prize.

Someone with a measure of an attribute equaling or exceeding the object of comparison.

He knew he had met his match .

* Addison

Government makes an innocent man, though of the lowest rank, a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects.

A marriage.

A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage.

* Clarendon

She was looked upon as the richest match of the West.

Suitability.

Equivalence; a state of correspondence. (rfex)

Equality of conditions in contest or competition.

* Shakespeare

It were no match , your nail against his horn.

A pair of items or entities with mutually suitable characteristics.

The carpet and curtains are a match .

An agreement or compact.

* Shakespeare

Thy hand upon that match .

* Boyle

Love doth seldom suffer itself to be confined by other matches than those of its own making.

(metalworking) A perforated board, block of plaster, hardened sand, etc., in which a pattern is partly embedded when a mould is made, for giving shape to the surfaces of separation between the parts of the mould.

Derived terms
* cage match * first class match * friendly match * grudge match * * love match * Man of the Match/man of the match * match fixing * match made in heaven * match made in hell * matchless * matchmaker * match play/matchplay * matchplayer * match point * match referee * * one-day match * overmatch * post-match * rubber match * shouting match * slanging match * steel cage match * Test match * tour match * whole shitting match * whole shooting match
Verb
(es)
(lb) To agree, to be equal, to correspond to.

:

:

(lb) To agree, to be equal, to correspond to.

:

*

*:There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

*{{quote-book, year=1927, author= F. E. Penny
, chapter=4, title= Pulling the Strings , passage=Soon after the arrival of Mrs. Campbell, dinner was announced by Abboye. He came into the drawing room resplendent in his gold-and-white turban. […] His cummerbund matched the turban in gold lines.}}
(lb) To make a successful match or pairing.

:

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}
(lb) To equal or exceed in achievement.

:

(lb) To unite in marriage, to mate.

*1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :

*:Adam's sons are my brethren; and truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.

*(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)

*:A senator of Rome survived, / Would not have matched his daughter with a king.

To fit together, or make suitable for fitting together; specifically, to furnish with a tongue and groove at the edges.

:

Derived terms
* match drill * matcher * matchup * matchy * * overmatch * unmatch
See also
* mate
Etymology 2
From (etyl)
Noun
(es)
Device made of wood or paper, at the tip coated with chemicals that ignite with the friction of being dragged (struck) against a rough dry surface.

He struck a match and lit his cigarette.

Synonyms
* spunk
Derived terms
* fireplace match * matchbook, matchbox, matchlock * matchgirl * phosphorus match * quick match * safety match * slow match * strike-anywhere match * sulfur match * sulphur match
See also
* fire, lighter, cigarette lighter * strike (to strike a match)