capture
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to take by force or stratagem; take prisoner; seize.
The police captured the burglar.
- Antonyms:
- release
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to gain control of or exert influence over.
an ad that captured our attention;
a TV show that captured 30% of the prime-time audience.
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to take possession of, as in a game or contest.
to capture a pawn in chess.
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to represent or record in lasting form.
The movie succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s.
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Computers.
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to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage.
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to record (data) in preparation for such entry.
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noun
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the act of capturing.
- Synonyms:
- apprehension, arrest, seizure
- Antonyms:
- release
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the thing or person captured.
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Physics. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle.
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Crystallography. substitution in a crystal lattice of a trace element for an element of lower valence.
verb
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to take prisoner or gain control over
to capture an enemy
to capture a town
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(in a game or contest) to win control or possession of
to capture a pawn in chess
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to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive)
the artist captured her likeness
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physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)
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to insert or transfer (data) into a computer
noun
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the act of taking by force; seizure
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the person or thing captured; booty
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physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle
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Also called: piracy. geography the process by which the headwaters of one river are diverted into another through erosion caused by the second river's tributaries
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the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer
Other Word Forms
- capturable adjective
- capturer noun
- precapture adjective
- uncapturable adjective
- uncaptured adjective
Etymology
Origin of capture
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin captūra, equivalent to capt(us) “taken” (past participle of capere “to take”) + -ūra -ure
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Calcifying plankton, microscopic organisms that form hard shells, help regulate the planet's temperature by capturing carbon and moving it through the ocean.
From Science Daily
A sport for decades associated with no-nonsense jocks has in recent years encouraged its stars' newfound obsession with attire as a way to capture new fans beyond the sport's traditional base.
From Barron's
Botswana's bid underscores its belief that it must manage the resource, which contributes about a third of its GDP, in order to capture more of the value chain and secure its economic future.
From Barron's
Most countries refused to sell them to Iran, so the unit started copying Soviet and North Korean designs, and later American Stinger and TOW antitank missiles captured in Afghanistan.
This record captures the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary, the most recent major reversal of Earth's magnetic field, which serves as a precise global time marker in the Quaternary period.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
