fetch

¹ American  

[fech] / fɛtʃ /

verb (used with object)

• fetches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fetched,
  past participle,  past
• fetching
  present participle

1. to go and bring back; return with; get.

   to go up a hill to fetch a pail of water.

2. to cause to come; bring.

   to fetch a doctor.

3. to sell for or bring (a price, financial return, etc.).

   The horse fetched $50 more than it cost.

4. Informal. to charm; captivate.

   Her beauty fetched the coldest hearts.

5. to take (a breath).

6. to utter (a sigh, groan, etc.).

7. to deal or deliver (a stroke, blow, etc.).

8. to perform or execute (a movement, step, leap, etc.).

9. Chiefly Nautical and British Dialect. to reach; arrive at.

   to fetch port.

10. Hunting. (of a dog) to retrieve (game).

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verb (used without object)

• fetches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fetched,
  past participle,  past
• fetching
  present participle

1. to go and bring things.

2. Chiefly Nautical. to move or maneuver.

3. Hunting. to retrieve game (often used as a command to a dog).

4. to go by an indirect route; circle (often followed by around orabout ).

   We fetched around through the outer suburbs.

noun

1. the act of fetching.

2. the distance of fetching.

   a long fetch.

3. Oceanography.

   1. an area where ocean waves are being generated by the wind.

   2. the length of such an area.

4. the reach or stretch of a thing.

5. a trick; dodge.

verb phrase

1. fetch about (of a sailing vessel) to come onto a new tack.

2. fetch up

   1. Informal. to arrive or stop.

   2. Older Use. to raise (children); bring up.

      She had to fetch up her younger sisters.

   3. Nautical. (of a vessel) to come to a halt, as by lowering an anchor or running aground; bring up.

idioms

1. fetch and carry, to perform menial tasks.

fetch ² American  

[fech] / fɛtʃ /

noun

1. wraith.

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fetch ¹ British  

/ fɛtʃ /

verb

1. to go after and bring back; get

   to fetch help

2. to cause to come; bring or draw forth

   the noise fetched him from the cellar

3. (also intr) to cost or sell for (a certain price)

   the table fetched six hundred pounds

4. to utter (a sigh, groan, etc)

5. informal to deal (a blow, slap, etc)

6. (also intr) nautical to arrive at or proceed by sailing

7. informal to attract

   to be fetched by an idea

8. (used esp as a command to dogs) to retrieve (shot game, an object thrown, etc)

9. rare to draw in (a breath, gasp, etc), esp with difficulty

10. to perform menial tasks or run errands

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noun

1. the reach, stretch, etc, of a mechanism

2. a trick or stratagem

3. the distance in the direction of the prevailing wind that air or water can travel continuously without obstruction

fetch ² British  

/ fɛtʃ /

noun

1. the ghost or apparition of a living person

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Usage

What else does fetch mean? Fetch is slang for “cool” or “awesome" and is not, in fact, from England. It started as a joke in the movie Mean Girls, only to catch on off-screen.

Synonym Usage

See bring.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fetcher
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• fetching
  present
• fetched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fetch
  simple
• fetches
  simple
• have fetched
  perfect
• has fetched
  perfect
• am fetching
  progressive
• are fetching
  progressive
• is fetching
  progressive
• have been fetching
  perfect progressive
• has been fetching
  perfect progressive

Past

• fetched
  simple
• had fetched
  perfect
• was fetching
  progressive
• were fetching
  progressive
• had been fetching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fetch
  simple
• will have fetched
  perfect
• will be fetching
  progressive
• will have been fetching
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of fetch¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English fecchen, facchen, Old English fecc(e)an, fæccan “to bring back”; akin to German fassen “to grasp”

Origin of fetch²

First recorded in 1780–90; origin unknown; perhaps short for fetch-life one sent to fetch the soul of a dying person

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Explanation

To fetch something is to go and get it. "Go fetch!" you might shout after your dog while throwing a stick into the yard. Fetch comes from the Old English fatian meaning "grasp." When a dog fetches a bone, it grasps it in its mouth. You can ask your sister to fetch or grab your backpack off the table. If you sell something for a good price, you can fetch, or bring in, a decent amount of money. If you are sick of playing fetch, you might try to fetch a good price for your pooch.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fetch fetches fetched fetching

For a rough estimate for what certain items in your home might fetch, try taking photos and then asking Google Lens, eBay Virtual Search or an AI bot like ChatGPT or Google Gemini.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

The revenge dress is expected to fetch a considerably higher price.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

The dress, designed by Christina Stambolian, is estimated to fetch between $150,000 and $300,000, with some proceeds going to charity.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

The set includes Andy Warhol’s portraits of David Hockney and Aretha Franklin, and Hockney’s “Hawthorne Blossom, Woldgate No. 4,” among other works collectively estimated to fetch more than $35 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

“There! I am up now; but at your peril you fetch a candle yet: wait two minutes till I get into some dry garments, if any dry there be—yes, here is my dressing-gown. Now run!”

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

That multiple is somewhere between Gap, which fetches a market cap that is about half of its trailing 12-month revenue, and Aritzia ATZ -1.33%decrease; down pointing triangle , which trades at four times.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Thrifted Wilt Chamberlain jacket fetches $89,600 at auction.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

By comparison, the S&P 500 index fetches a two-year PEG of 1.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

It fetches the same single-digit forward P/E multiple as Turkey, Brazil or South Africa.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

When he hears that I can play the piano he fetches his violin and plays.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

In New York, diesel futures have recently fetched roughly double the price of crude, with spreads far exceeding any previously recorded levels, boosting wholesale costs for gas stations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Four years ago, one of the brand’s mint-condition watches fetched 51% of its original value at resale, 10 percentage points higher than today.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Hugging Face fetched a private-market valuation of $4.5 billion back in 2023.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

And, speaking of holy grails: Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched $32.5 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Maria arranged flowers and fetched painting supplies for Marrel and his apprentices.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Processing tomatoes — those used in products such as canned diced tomatoes and ketchup — are also fetching lower prices than they did a few years ago.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

The sale lasted for more than five hours and included buyers from 34 countries, fetching £3,649,280 - more than three times its estimated value.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

In my case, my 2023 Mercedes EQS had an end-of-lease buyout of nearly $60,000, between $15,000 and $20,000 higher than what used examples were fetching from retailers like CarMax.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Edinburgh's own Duke of Wellington statue, outside Register House in the city centre, was spotted sporting fetching, orange headwear earlier this week.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

“I answer to the King’s army. I’d be right pleased if you kept fetching the water. Makes my life easier.”

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Related Words

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• obtain
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• yield

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