intercept

[verb in-ter-sept; noun in-ter-sept]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR intercept ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to take, seize, or halt (someone or something on the way from one place to another); cut off from an intended destination: to intercept a messenger.

to see or overhear (a message, transmission, etc., meant for another): We intercepted the enemy's battle plan.

to stop or check (passage, travel, etc.): to intercept the traitor's escape.

Sports. to take possession of (a ball or puck) during an attempted pass by an opposing team.

to stop or interrupt the course, progress, or transmission of.

to destroy or disperse (enemy aircraft or a missile or missiles) in the air on the way to a target.

to stop the natural course of (light, water, etc.).

Mathematics. to mark off or include, as between two points or lines.

to intersect.

Obsolete. to prevent or cut off the operation or effect of.

Obsolete. to cut off from access, sight, etc.

noun

an interception.

Mathematics.

an intercepted segment of a line.
(in a coordinate system) the distance from the origin to the point at which a curve or line intersects an axis.

Origin of intercept

1535–45; < Latin interceptus past participle of intercipere, equivalent to inter- inter- + -cep- (combining form of cap-, stem of capere to take) + -tus past participle suffix; cf. incipient

Related formsin·ter·cep·tive, adjectivenon·in·ter·cept·ing, adjectivenon·in·ter·cep·tive, adjectiveun·in·ter·cept·ed, adjectiveun·in·ter·cept·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for intercept

prevent, seize, stop, deflect, arrest, ambush, catch, hijack, block, hinder, obstruct, interlope, interpose, appropriate, curb, take, check, shortstop

Examples from the Web for intercept

Contemporary Examples of intercept

In all fairness to Jay, he told The Intercept that he never expected to be a major figure in Serial.
The Deal With Serial’s Jay? He’s Pissed Off, Mucks Up Our Timeline
Emily Shire
December 31, 2014
“The Intercept loses its editor in chief as First Look crumbles,” read a typical headline on the Mashable.com news site.
Journalists + eBay Billionaire = Chaos. The Troubles at Pierre Omidyar’s First Look Media
Lloyd Grove
November 15, 2014
Both left The Guardian last year to begin a news startup funded by Internet billionaire Pierre Omidyar called The Intercept.
Guardian and WaPo Share Pulitzer: Snowden Hails Victory for “More Accountable Democracy”
David Freedlander
April 14, 2014
They intercept and diffuse, to some extent babysitting the possible aggressor until the disease of violent intent has passed.
Using Strategies Reserved for Disease Outbreak, Activists Try to “Cure” Urban Violence
Sarah Kunst
April 11, 2014
And the New Yorker welcomed The Intercept as part of an encouraging trend of proliferating public-interest journalism startups.
Greenwald’s ‘The Intercept’ Gets Intercepted on Day One
Lloyd Grove
February 11, 2014

Historical Examples of intercept

At an angle calculated to intercept the caravan, Kingozi set off down the hill.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
I know the Ambassador; if you do not wish to meet him, I will intercept him.
Jennie Baxter, Journalist
Robert Barr
The fighters they spotted, three in number, did not try to intercept them.
A Yankee Flier Over Berlin
Al Avery
The "grid" is connected to the aerial wire to intercept the radio waves.
The Automobile Storage Battery
O. A. Witte
She must make that point and so intercept Hervey with a telegraphic message.
The Hound From The North
Ridgwell Cullum

British Dictionary definitions for intercept

intercept

verb (ˌɪntəˈsɛpt) (tr)

to stop, deflect, or seize on the way from one place to another; prevent from arriving or proceeding

sport to seize or cut off (a pass) on its way from one opponent to another

maths to cut off, mark off, or bound (some part of a line, curve, plane, or surface)

noun (ˈɪntəˌsɛpt)

maths

a point at which two figures intersect
the distance from the origin to the point at which a line, curve, or surface cuts a coordinate axis
an intercepted segment

sport, US and Canadian the act of intercepting an opponent's pass

Derived Formsinterception, nouninterceptive, adjective

Word Origin for intercept

C16: from Latin intercipere to seize before arrival, from inter- + 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 intercept

c.1400, from Latin interceptus, past participle of intercipere "take or seize between, to seize in passing," from inter- "between" (see inter-) + -cipere, comb. form of capere "to take, catch" (see capable). Related: Intercepted; intercepting.

intercept in Science

intercept

[ĭn′tər-sĕpt′]

In a Cartesian coordinate system, the coordinate of a point at which a line, curve, or surface intersects a coordinate axis. If a curve intersects the x-axis at (4,0), then 4 is the curve's x-intercept; if the curve intersects the y-axis at (0,2), then 2 is its y-intercept.