catch-

catch-, comb. form
  [Mainly the vb. used in phraseological combination, as catch-all, ‘that can or will catch all’; or attrib., as in catch phr., catching phrase, ‘phrase to catch’; but in sense 4 it may be the n.]
  I. With ns., etc., in objective relation. (The resulting combination is a n., but capable also of being used attrib. or as adj.)
  1. In sense ‘one who or that which catches (what is expressed by the object)’, as † catch-bit, † catch-cloak, † catch-coin, † catch-credit, † catch-fish, † catch-fool, † catch-plume, catch-shilling (cf. catchpenny); † catch-dolt, some form of cheating or swindling; † catch-dotterel, ? a cheat, sharper; catch-'em-alive-o, slang name for a ‘fly-paper’ for catching flies; catch-water, (a) (see quots. 1887, 1879); (b) a vessel designed to catch water. (Primarily ns. but sometimes also used attrib. or as adjs.: see catch-all, -shilling, -water.) See also catchfly, catchpenny, catchpoll.
  Few of these are found before 1600.

1611 Cotgr., Tirelupin, a *catch-bit or captious companion; a scuruie fellow.

1679 Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1840) 81 Cheaters, cutpurses, picklocks, *catchcloaks, coiners of false money.

1611 Cotgr., Gripp argent, a *Catch-coyne; a greedie or couetous Judge.

1629 Gaule Holy Madn. 86 Hath made him a new kinde of *Catch-credit, of his old couer-shame.

1592 Greene Def. Conny-catch. (1859) 4 At Dequoy, Mumchaunce, *Catch-dolt, Ourelebourse..none durst euer make compare with me for excellence.

1671 Glanvill Disc. M. Stubbe 2 Impostors, *Catch-Dotterels, Fops, Tories.

1855 Dickens Dorrit (Hoppe) Sticky old Saints, with..such coats of varnish that every holy personage served for a fly-trap, and became what is now called in the vulgar tongue a *‘catch-'em-alive-o’. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 163 Itinerant vendors of catch-'em-alive-o's.

a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 53 Sons of some *catch-fish, or chief fencer.

1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 8 For pleasant *catch-fooles..he spares not To sweare hee's carelesse.

a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal, The retiarius wore a feather in his crest: and so it might be render'd a *catch-plume.

1815 Southey Lett. (1856) II. 402 (D.) The other article is upon a catch penny or rather *catch shilling ‘Life of Wellington’.

1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln xii. 275 The *catch-water drain runs all winter. 1838 Civil Engin. & Archit. Jrnl. I. 256/2, I shall now proceed to describe the mode of discharging, by catch-water courses or drains, all the brooks and rivers which flow into it. 1842 G. Francis Dict. Arts, Catch-water drains, drains, or channels, cut in a slanting direction across and down embankments, therefore catching and carrying off the water which falls upon them. 1861 Smiles Engineers II. 160 Intercepting or catchwater drains. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 503/2 Catch-water Drain, a drain to intercept waters from high lands, to prevent their accumulation upon lower levels. 1877 Ld. Hatherley in Law Rep. App. Cases II. 844 The weirs or catchwaters are used to divert the water to the lades. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. vii. 23 In catch-water meadows the water is allowed to flow on to the most elevated portion..by means of a ‘feeder’.

1869 Echo 9 Oct., *Catch-work, or running men, when with the threshing machines, received as much as 3s. a day. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Engin., Interceptor, a T-shaped cylindrical vessel employed in connection with marine engines to prevent particles of water from being carried over with the steam into the cylinders... Called also catch water. 1901 M. W. Travers Exper. Study Gases 33 The water runs into a catch-water below the bulb, and is conducted away. 1963 Times 7 Mar. 10/6 Fourteen miles of catchwaters have been built around the valley, and it is hoped they will catch about 90 per cent of the rain that falls.

  2. In sense ‘to catch, the catching of (the object)’, as catch-ball, catch-cold (also attrib.); hence catch-coldy adj.

1631 J. Burges Answ. Rejoined Pref. 70 You are as good at *catch-ball..but you strike not so well. 1881 Mrs. Holman Hunt Childr. Jerus. 30 Children..playing catch-ball.

1824 J. M{supc}Culloch Highl. Scotl. III. 192 Sufficient warranty for this *catch cold. 1825 Scott Diary in Lockhart (1839) VIII. 148 No man..has less dread than I of the catch cold. 1884 Daily News 14 Nov. 5/4 Catch-cold weather. 1884 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 332/1, I am not a catch-coldy person.

  II. In attributive relation to a n.
  3. In sense ‘that catches or for catching’; a. lit., as catch-bar, catch-bolt, catch-boom, † catch-hook, catch-lock, catch-pot, catch-ratline (see ratline 2), catch-tank; catch-basin, (a) the receptacle placed beneath the grating of a sewer or other opening, to catch the dirt that is washed in; (b) a reservoir for catching and retaining surface-drainage over large areas; catch-box, a box-like clutch of a spinning machine; catch-drain, a drain or ditch, esp. on a hillside, to catch the surface water; also a drain by the side of a canal or conduit to catch the surplus water; catch-fake (see quot.); catch-meadow, ? a meadow irrigated by means of catch-drains; catch-pit, a pit to catch drainage sediment in water, etc.; also = catch-basin; catch plate (Colliery), an iron plate for catching the safety hook of the winding rope, and preventing the load from falling back, in case of overwinding; catch-point, a switch or point intended to derail a train, wagon, etc. (e.g. to prevent it from running on to a main line); catch reservoir (cf. catch pit); catch siding, a railway siding placed on steep inclines so as to catch and stop a carriage, etc. accidentally running back down the slope; catch-stitch, (a) Bookbinding = kettle-stitch; (b) (see quot. 1968); also as vb.; catch-wheel, a wheel capable of motion in one direction only, a ratchet-wheel; catch-work, the method of irrigating a sloping meadow by means of catch-drains (see quot.); also attrib. See also catchweed.

1850 Rep. U.S. Comm. Patents 1849 170 The second crank to slide the *catch bar. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. 503/1 Catch-bar (Knitting-machine), a bar employed to depress the jacks.

Ibid., *Catch-basin, a cistern at the point of discharge into a sewer. 1884 Science III. 372/1 Whether any..system of catch-basins or reservoirs, could..mitigate..such..floods.

1859 U.S. Patent Off., Ann. Rep. 1858 I. 537 The levers or arms are designed to force back the *catch-bolt and lock-bolt. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. 503/1 Catch-bolt, a cupboard or door-bolt which yields to the pressure in closing and then springs into the keeper in the jamb. Usually retracted by a small knob.

1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 33 *Catch boom, a boom fastened across stream to catch and hold floating logs.

1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 426 When the *catch-box 14 is in contact with the sheeve s. 1892 J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning 320 The wheel..is provided with a catch box..and by its means drives the shaft.

1834 Brit. Husb. I. 528 Where..the plane of the surface..presents a considerable descent, the *catch-drains instead of being carried straight across it, are cut in an angular direction across the line of descent.

1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Catch-fake, an unseemly doubling in a badly coiled rope.

1751 S. Whatley Eng. Gazeteer, Higham (Leic.), Great *catch-hooks and keepers of silver, with links of a great gold chain.

1863 Reade in All Y. Round 3 Oct. 126/2 His door..closed with a *catch-lock.

1843 Pusey in Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IV. ii. 314 The worthless slope would be converted into *catch-meadow.

1870 Echo 6 May 1/4 Forming a number of large *catch pits, and passing the water on its way to the river through them. 1882 Gard. Chron. No. 420. 45 A slight slope to one corner, to a small catch-pit, for the purpose of collecting the drainage.

1887 Daily News 11 Jan. 2/7 The force with which the cage was hurled into the head gear was so great that the bolts which fasten the *catch-plate to the girders were torn away.

1883 Peel City Guardian 27 Jan. 6/1 The mineral train came on at considerable speed, passed the signals, and through the *catch-points. 1895 Daily News 7 Dec. 7/7 That catch points should be more clearly indicated. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 144/2 A throw-off or derailing switch (‘catch-points’). 1936 Gloss. Terms Rly. Signalling (B.S.I.) 12 Catch points, trailing points provided on a rising gradient for the purpose of derailing a vehicle running back after breaking away.

1909 Westm. Gaz. 26 Oct. 11/4 Tin..runs through a channel..into a *catch-pot, whence it is ladled by small gourds..and poured. 1962 New Scientist 12 July 82/3 The catchpot was designed to hold the cathode in the event of its failure by fracture or melting.

1887 Daily News 4 July 3/4 To construct a *catch reservoir and pump into it water from the springs.

1846 Dodd Brit. Manuf. VI. iv. 87 ‘Kettle-stitch’..is supposed by some to be a corruption of ‘*catch’ or ‘ketch’ stitch, while others refer it to ‘chain’ stitch. 1906 D. Cockerell in E. Johnston Writing & Illum. xvi. 347 At about ½ inch from either end make an additional line across the back for the ‘kettle’ or catch stitch. 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 123/1 Herring-bone Stitch..used for the same purposes as catch-stitch. Ibid. 208/2 Catch-stitch..all round on to the linen—no stitches showing through. 1964 McCall's Sewing xiv. 259/1 Lap front shoulder darts to stitching line and catch-stitch halfway down from the top. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet iii. 83 Catch-stitch, large cross-stitch used to hold heavy hems, invisible on right side.

1920 Blackw. Mag. May 706/2 The glen stream was never again diverted from its course, nor the *catch-tank drained.

1845 Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 619/1 This cylinder carries a *catch wheel..the teeth of which engage the click..attached to the wheel C by a screw.

1799 T. Wright Art Floating Land 82, I have seen the common plan of *catch-work watering resorted to. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1022 Catch-work irrigation.

  b. fig. in sense ‘that catches or is meant to catch the eye, ear, fancy, etc.’; as catch-cry, catch-idea, catch-phrase, catch-sound, catchword. catch-line, a short line of type that catches the eye; spec. in Typogr. (see quot. 1938); catch title, an abbreviated title sufficiently expressive of the full title to identify the book. (In this use, it is often treated as an independent adj. and written without hyphen.)

1901 Daily Chron. 20 Nov. 4/5 Some very sound remarks..on certain *catch-cries of the day. 1916 W. B. Yeats Eight Poems, The clever man who cries The catch cries of the clown.

1884 Chr. World 19 June 454/1 He has..got hold of a few *catch-ideas.

1866 Dickens Repr. Pieces 146 What you wanted was two or three good *catch-lines for the eye to rest on. 1909 Webster, Catch line,..(a) A line containing the catchword at the foot of a page. (b) A short line in displayed matter. 1938 L. M. Harrod Librarians' Gloss. 35 Catch line, a line [of type] inserted at the top of matter by the compositor in order to identify it. 1958 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship 66/1 Catchline, a temporary descriptive headline on galley proofs. Also a short line of type in between two large displayed lines.

a 1850 J. C. Calhoun Wks. (1874) IV. 206 The whole scheme, with all its plausible *catch-phrases. 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith i. ii. 73 Catch phrases of this kind are sufficient to satisfy the simple.

1878 Page Roberts Law & God 127 It is not the *catch-sound of a verse which has authority, but the divine spirit of God's revelation.

1909 Webster, *Catch title, a short expressive title used for abbreviated book lists, etc. 1959 L. M. Harrod Librarians' Gloss. (ed. 2) 62 Catchword title... Also called ‘Catch title’.

  c. catch question, a question that catches one out or has a catch in it; also as vb.

a 1860 Alb. Smith Med. Student (1861) 14 Legendary ‘catch questions’. Ibid. 116 The inquisitors..are willing to help a student out of a scrape, rather than ‘catch question’ him into one. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 22 Apr. 3/1 The critics and commentators for centuries have been, like the philosophers, fooled by the catch-question of the Stuart King concerning the weight of a live fish in a bucket full of water.

  d. That is or may be taken or ‘caught’ to one's advantage.

1895 Westm. Gaz. 4 Dec. 7/1 Until the end of President Cleveland's term Great Britain has a statesman, and not a catch-vote politician, to deal with. 1905 Spectator 7 Jan. 5/2 To put the policy of development at the mercy of a catch vote. 1907 Daily Chron. 15 Aug. 7/5 There was a strong catch tide in favour of the swimmers.

  4. More loosely; as catch-crop, a crop got by catching or seizing an opportunity when the ground would otherwise lie fallow between two regular or main crops; hence catch-cropping, the raising of catch-crops; † catch-land (see quot.); catch-match, a match which is ‘a catch’ or great advantage to one of the parties; catch-weight (Horse-racing); also in Boxing and Wrestling (see quot. 1897).

1884 Sir T. Acland in Pall Mall G. 25 Feb. 2/1 *Catch crops rarely pay on a farm. 1887 Daily News 16 July 3/8 ‘Catch-cropping’..is now coming to be looked upon as a mark of skilful and thrifty farming.

1674 Ray S. & E. Countr. Wds. Coll. 61 *Catch-land, land which is not certainly known to what Parish it belongeth; and the Minister that first gets the tithes of it enjoys it for that year.

1824 Scott St. Ronan's vi, She made out her *catch-match, and she was miserable.

1820 Hoyle's Games Impr. 477 General rules concerning Horse-racing. *Catch Weights are, each party to appoint any person to ride without weighing. 1863 Punch XLV. 86 The Archimandrite Nilos has offered to fight the Bishop of London for 20 pound a side, catch-weight. 1872 Pall Mall G. 1 Aug. 11 The ‘catch’ in ‘catch weight’—which is almost synonymous with ‘chance weight’—originally applied only to the weight which was ‘caught’ as best it might be. 1887 G. B. Shaw Let. 8 Feb. (1965) 164 The Socialist League have been challenged by C. Bradlaugh to pick a man to fight him at catch weight. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 139/1 Catchweight (To box at)—Boxing without restrictions as to weight. 1907 Daily Chron. 18 Oct. 9/3 To wrestle the best of three falls for {pstlg}50 a side at catch-weight. 1971 Wrestling Rev. XVI. v. 4/1 A catchweight contest.

Oxford English Dictionary