Verb

To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem.

to capture an enemy, a vessel, or a criminal

* 2014 , Ian Black, " Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November 2014:

Arrests and prosecutions intensified after Isis captured Mosul in June, but the groundwork had been laid by an earlier amendment to Jordan’s anti-terrorism law. It is estimated that 2,000 Jordanians have fought and 250 of them have died in Syria – making them the third largest Arab contingent in Isis after Saudi Arabians and Tunisians.

To store (as in sounds or image) for later revisitation.

She captured the sounds of a subway station on tape.

She captured the details of the fresco in a series of photographs.

To reproduce convincingly.

His film adaptation captured the spirit of the original work.

In her latest masterpiece, she captured the essence of Venice.

To remove or take control of an opponent’s piece in a game (e.g., chess, go, checkers).

My pawn was captured .

He captured his opponent’s queen on the 15th move.

* 1954 , Fred Reinfeld, How to Be a Winner at Chess , page 63, Hanover House (Garden City, NY)

How deeply ingrained capturing is in the mind of a chess master can be seen from this story.

Verb

(en verb)

To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Luke XVIII:

And a certayne ruler axed him: sayinge: Goode Master: what ought I to do, to obtaine eternall lyfe?

* 1814 , (Jane Austen), (Mansfield Park) :

Julia was quite as eager for novelty and pleasure as Maria, though she might not have struggled through so much to obtain them, and could better bear a subordinate situation.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained .}}

(obsolete) To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached.

* 1722 , (Daniel Defoe), (Colonel Jack) :

he was condemned to die for the felony, and being so well known for an old offender, had certainly died, but the merchant, upon his earnest application, had obtained that he should be transported, on condition that he restored all the rest of his bills, which he had done accordingly.

(obsolete) To prevail, be victorious; to succeed.

* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.2:

“O daughter deare!” (said she) “despeire no whit; / For never sore but might a salve obtain [...].”

* 1701 , (Jonathan Swift), Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome :

This, though it failed at present, yet afterward obtained , and was a mighty step to the ruin of the commonwealth.

(obsolete) To hold; to keep, possess or occupy.

* 1671 , (John Milton), (Paradise Regained) , Book I:

His mother then is mortal, but his Sire / He who obtains the monarchy of Heav'n, / And what will he not do to advance his Son?

To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.

* 1908 , (Jack London), (The Iron Heel) , ,

Even though the Pervaise confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt could obtain ; for the act in question was on a par with countless other acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the capitalists.

* 1992 , (Neal Stephenson), (Snow Crash) , Bantam Spectra, p. 460,

But the hostage situation no longer obtains , and so Uncle Enzo feels it important to stop Rife now,