intercept

[in-ter-sept, in-ter-sept]

verb (used with object)

1. to take, seize, or halt (someone or something on the way from one place to another); cut off from an intended destination.

   to intercept a messenger.

2. to see or overhear (a message, transmission, etc., meant for another).

   We intercepted the enemy's battle plan.

3. to stop or check (passage, travel, etc.).

   to intercept the traitor's escape.

4. Sports.,  to take possession of (a ball or puck) during an attempted pass by an opposing team.

5. to stop or interrupt the course, progress, or transmission of.

6. to destroy or disperse (enemy aircraft or a missile or missiles) in the air on the way to a target.

7. to stop the natural course of (light, water, etc.).

8. Mathematics.,  to mark off or include, as between two points or lines.

9. to intersect.

10. Obsolete.,  to prevent or cut off the operation or effect of.

11. Obsolete.,  to cut off from access, sight, etc.

noun

1. an interception.

2. Mathematics.

   1. an intercepted segment of a line.

   2. (in a coordinate system) the distance from the origin to the point at which a curve or line intersects an axis.

intercept

verb

1. to stop, deflect, or seize on the way from one place to another; prevent from arriving or proceeding

2. sport to seize or cut off (a pass) on its way from one opponent to another

3. maths to cut off, mark off, or bound (some part of a line, curve, plane, or surface)

noun

1. maths

   1. a point at which two figures intersect

   2. the distance from the origin to the point at which a line, curve, or surface cuts a coordinate axis

   3. an intercepted segment

2. sport the act of intercepting an opponent's pass

intercept

1. In a Cartesian coordinate system, the coordinate of a point at which a line, curve, or surface intersects a coordinate axis. If a curve intersects the x-axis at (4,0), then 4 is the curve's x-intercept; if the curve intersects the y-axis at (0,2), then 2 is its y-intercept.

Other Word Forms

• interceptive adjective
• nonintercepting adjective
• noninterceptive adjective
• unintercepted adjective
• unintercepting adjective
• interception noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of intercept¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin interceptus, past participle of intercipere “to intercept,” equivalent to inter- “between, among, together” + -cep- (combining form of cap-, stem of capere “to take”) + -tus past participle suffix; inter-; incipient

Word History and Origins

Origin of intercept¹

C16: from Latin intercipere to seize before arrival, from _inter- + capere to take

Example Sentences

Farrell said he had hardly fumbled his way out of his car when assistant director David H. Venghaus Jr. intercepted him, insisting, “You can’t go to the set like this.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“They never got our order,” Abdelrahman said he was told, “and the hackers intercepted the vehicle and picked it up, and they vanished with the car.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That squad depth proved the difference as three tries followed, including an intercept try from deep inside his own half by Arundell for his fourth Prem try this season.

Read more on BBC

The last known instance occurred in October 2024, when a German naval vessel participating in Unifil intercepted and neutralised a drone off Lebanon's coast during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Read more on BBC

The same journal also says the missile can fly as low as 50 to 100 metres above ground, making it difficult for air defences to intercept.

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Related Words

• ambush 
• arrest 
• block 
• catch 
• cut off 
• deflect 
• hijack 
• prevent 
• seize 
• stop 
• take away