catching
Americanadjective
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tending to be transmitted from one person to another; contagious or infectious.
a disease that is catching;
His enthusiasm is catching.
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attractive; fascinating; captivating; alluring.
a catching personality.
adjective
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infectious
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attractive; captivating
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of catching
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at catch, -ing 2
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.
Amodei’s main concern, he wrote in the letter, was the risk of authoritarian governments catching up with the U.S. in AI “to achieve permanent military superiority or perpetrate incredibly deep repression of their own people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The Dodgers’ catching depth, with Will Smith still sidelined with a lingering neck injury, is the most obvious roster soft spot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
SpaceX’s route to achieving its grand connectivity vision for Starlink is riddled with multibillion-dollar problems and would require decades’ worth of catching up, according to MoffettNathanson analysts.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
The biggest challenge has been persuading fishermen to stop catching one of their most valuable species.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Did you have any trouble catching Gandy in it?”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
