capture

[ kap-cher ]
See synonyms for: capturecapturedcapturescapturing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),cap·tured, cap·tur·ing.
  1. to take by force or stratagem; take prisoner; seize: The police captured the burglar.

  2. 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.

  1. to take possession of, as in a game or contest: to capture a pawn in chess.

  2. to represent or record in lasting form: The movie succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s.

  3. Computers.

    • to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage.

    • to record (data) in preparation for such entry.

noun
  1. the act of capturing.

  2. the thing or person captured.

  1. Physics. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle.

  2. Crystallography. substitution in a crystal lattice of a trace element for an element of lower valence.

Origin of capture

1
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin captūra, equivalent to capt(us) “taken” (past participle of capere “to take”) + -ūra -ure

Other words for capture

Opposites for capture

Other words from capture

  • cap·tur·a·ble, adjective
  • cap·tur·er, noun
  • pre·cap·ture, adjective, verb (used with object), pre·cap·tured, pre·cap·tur·ing.
  • un·cap·tur·a·ble, adjective
  • un·cap·tured, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use capture in a sentence

  • His first idea is to seek wealth, so he builds a great boat and captures twelve hundred tunny fish.

    Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
  • There were some captures of cotton going out, and others of supplies going in, but the losses were for a long time inconsiderable.

  • Yes, you have done enough for one trip, and I should much regret were you to be deprived of any of your captures.

    A Roving Commission | G. A. Henty
  • Frequently I would go out spearing and netting fish, my principal captures being mullet.

  • He captures a town which the king had besieged for three months without success.

    Witch, Warlock, and Magician | William Henry Davenport Adams

British Dictionary definitions for capture

capture

/ (ˈkæptʃə) /


verb(tr)
  1. to take prisoner or gain control over: to capture an enemy; to capture a town

  2. (in a game or contest) to win control or possession of: to capture a pawn in chess

  1. to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive): the artist captured her likeness

  2. physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)

  3. to insert or transfer (data) into a computer

noun
  1. the act of taking by force; seizure

  2. the person or thing captured; booty

  1. physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle

  2. 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

  3. the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer

Origin of capture

1
C16: from Latin captūra a catching, that which is caught, from capere to take

Derived forms of capture

  • capturer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012