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capture

[kap-cher]
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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.
  3. to take possession of, as in a game or contest: to capture a pawn in chess.
  4. to represent or record in lasting form: The movie succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s.
  5. Computers.
    1. to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage.
    2. to record (data) in preparation for such entry.
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noun
  1. the act of capturing.
  2. the thing or person captured.
  3. Physics. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle.
  4. Crystallography. substitution in a crystal lattice of a trace element for an element of lower valence.
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Origin of capture

1535–45; < Middle French < Latin captūra, equivalent to capt(us) taken (past participle of capere to take) + -ūra -ure
Related formscap·tur·a·ble, adjectivecap·tur·er, nounpre·cap·ture, adjective, verb (used with object), pre·cap·tured, pre·cap·tur·ing.un·cap·tur·a·ble, adjectiveun·cap·tured, adjective

Synonyms

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1. catch, arrest, snare, apprehend, grab, nab. 6. seizure, arrest, apprehension.

Antonyms

1, 6. release.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

apprehensiontakingimprisonmentconfiscationseizurearrestabductionoccupationsecureoccupyapprehendtrapseizesnatchconquertakecatchgrabacquirementsweep

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British Dictionary definitions for captures

capture

verb (tr)
  1. to take prisoner or gain control overto capture an enemy; to capture a town
  2. (in a game or contest) to win control or possession ofto capture a pawn in chess
  3. to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive)the artist captured her likeness
  4. physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)
  5. to insert or transfer (data) into a computer
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noun
  1. the act of taking by force; seizure
  2. the person or thing captured; booty
  3. physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle
  4. 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
  5. the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer
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Derived Formscapturer, noun

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for captures

capture

v.

1795, from capture (n.); in chess, checkers, etc., 1820. Related: Captured; capturing. Earlier verb in this sense was captive (early 15c.).

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capture

n.

1540s, from Middle French capture "a taking," from Latin captura "a taking" (especially of animals), from captus (see captive).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
captures in Medicine

capture

(kăp′chər)
n.
  1. The act of catching, taking, or holding a particle or impulse.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.