catcher
[kach-er]
- a person or thing that catches.
- Baseball. the player stationed behind home plate, whose chief duty is to catch pitches not hit by the batter.
- a member of an aerialist team, as in a circus, who hangs head down from a trapeze and catches another member who has completed a jump or somersault through the air.
- Metalworking. a person who feeds metal rods through a looping mill.
- Electronics. catcher resonator.See under Klystron.
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Origin of catcher
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for catcher
Contemporary Examples
Confusion over the catcher's eye black is just the tip of the iceberg for this befuddled limey.
As far as seeing the target, the catcher put tape on his fingers so I could see the signals.
‘No No,’ a Documentary on MLB Pitcher Dock Ellis, Who Pitched a No-Hitter While Tripping on AcidMarlow Stern
February 5, 2014
"The creator of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye would not be pleased," USA Today.
But then, in 1951, A Catcher in the Rye was published, and Salinger became a celebrity.
For me, reading Middlemarch or Sentimental Education is work, whereas Catcher in the Rye was pure pleasure.
Historical Examples
"Well, he'll have a catcher that can hold him this year," declared the city lad.
Rival Pitchers of OakdaleMorgan Scott
Smithers was between him and the plate, and he could not see the catcher.
Frank Merriwell's CruiseBurt L. Standish
Now their third man struck out and the catcher's mask was off.
Stanford StoriesCharles K. Field
The tiger is the catcher, and the deer is the one that is caught.
The Wonders of the JunglePrince Sarath Ghosh
Elevating his voice, Addison then called out, "Catcher, do your duty!"
When Life Was YoungC. A. Stephens
catcher
- a person or thing that catches, esp in a game or sport
- baseball a fielder who stands behind home plate and catches pitched balls not hit by the batter
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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 catcher
n.
"one who catches," in any sense, mid-14c., agent noun from catch (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper