catcher

American  

[kach-er] / ˈkætʃ ər /

noun

• catchers
  plural

1. a person or thing that catches.

2. Baseball. the player stationed behind home plate, whose chief duty is to catch pitches not hit by the batter.

3. 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.

4. Metalworking. a person who feeds metal rods through a looping mill.

5. catcher resonator. Electronics. Klystron

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catcher British  

/ ˈkætʃə /

noun

1. a person or thing that catches, esp in a game or sport

2. baseball a fielder who stands behind home plate and catches pitched balls not hit by the batter

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• catchers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of catcher

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at catch, -er ¹

Explanation

In baseball or softball, the catcher is the player who crouches behind home plate and catches the pitches that aren't hit by the batter. The catcher plays an important role in the game of baseball, being the person who uses hand signals to request specific pitches and heads up the team's defense. Because of the catcher's position (behind a swinging bat, facing a fast-moving baseball), he or she wears protective gear, including a mask and chest guard. Catchers tend to have more injuries and shorter careers than other players — crouching tends to be very hard on their knees.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

catcher catchers

Harris then stole second and failed to capitalize on catcher Will Smith’s off-target throw, which got past second baseman Kiké Hernández and bounced into the outfield.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Ohtani clipped Braves catcher Drake Baldwin’s mitt and was awarded first base for catcher’s interference.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

“He stayed tough,” Dodger catcher Will Smith said of Ortiz.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

In generations past, teams shared a duffel of bats, a few batting helmets and one set of gear for a catcher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

She and Royal and Red may have diminished the slave catcher when they last met, but it was Mabel who first laid him low.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

And while that last claim is somewhat breathless and overblown, the story told by Mr. Kerbaj teems with spies and spy catchers who could have slithered off the pages of John le Carré.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

He has grown more comfortable with the pitching coaches and his catchers, and it has brought out a better version of him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

Root, often captaining from short leg, set fields that crowded the bat, often with seven catchers.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Having sworn never to be taken back to slavery alive—or to let that happen to anyone else—he had organized an armed self-defense force of black neighbors to fend off slave catchers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

My job in the group includes fetching water for the shrimp catchers, helping untangle their nets, and separating the shrimp from weeds.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung