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

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

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

The most coveted shoe models, which the company manufactures in limited runs, can fetch three or four times more than their retail value on the resale market.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

What U.S. media rights to the 2030 and 2034 World Cup tournaments could fetch, according to some TV and media executives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

An album of original bird watercolours by William Weston Young are expected to fetch up to £25,000.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

More than 100 silver items, dating from the early 1700s to the early 1900s, had been expected to fetch up to £23,000 when they were offered for sale at Elmwood's auctioneers in London.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Ophie’s momentary relief melted away, and she went to fetch their coats with a heavy heart.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 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

The stock fetches a 2027 P/E of 23.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

With inflation soaring, the dollar now fetches about 480 pesos, making his monthly income worth less than $10.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026

“No, but I can tell you how much money squid fetches per pound at the dock.”

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Perhaps that's because we expect so much from the man who once fetched Celtic a reported £25m in a move to Arsenal.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Kobe Bryant’s sneakers from the game in which he tore his Achilles tendon — and hit two free throws before he left the court — fetched $660,000.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

A U.S. barrel fetched $84.88 Friday, driven lower again by reports that the U.S. and Iran were closer than ever to a peace deal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

Just before the Scotland news conference at their palatial Charlotte base camp, three Norwegian reporters fetched up in search of Scottish retaliatory thunder.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

Ophie fetched tea and ran hither and thither as she was told, and the winter continued melting into spring.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

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

Cogen sold a combined 986,540 indirectly owned shares across five trusts and holding companies that he manages, fetching a total of $106 million.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

The $400 pocket watches, sold only in stores, resold for up to $6,500 on eBay, with a full set fetching $27,900.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

Photos seen by the BBC show a crowd of people, many of them elderly, apparently fetching fresh supplies in a city square.

From BBC ● May 6, 2026

With Mrs. Caruthers sedated for much of the day, Ophie was free from spending so much time stepping and fetching for her.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• carry
• earn
• go for
• obtain
• produce
• retrieve
• sell
• sell for
• yield