catch phrase
Americannoun
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a phrase that attracts or is meant to attract attention.
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a phrase, as a slogan, that comes to be widely and repeatedly used, often with little of the original meaning remaining.
noun
Etymology
Origin of catch phrase
First recorded in 1840–50; catch(word) + phrase
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.
The catch phrase “demographics is destiny” isn’t quite right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
But Tyler’s signature catch phrase, “If you feel it, chase it,” is eerily akin to Kate’s own relationship with storms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2024
"The catch phrase is always 'physics beyond the Standard Model,'" Gaskell said.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2024
“Well, there goes my no-hitter,” Santangelo wrote on Twitter Wednesday, repeating a catch phrase he said after the Nationals’ first hit each game.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 3, 2021
They cited Fremont, Presidential candidate of the newly organised Republican party the year before, with his catch phrase, "The abolition of slavery and polygamy, the twin relics of barbarism."
From The Lions of the Lord A Tale of the Old West by Harry Leon Wilson
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.