intercept

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

/ verb ˌɪn tərˈsɛpt; noun ˈɪn tərˌsɛpt /

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.

Nearby words

intercede, intercellular, intercellular bridge, intercellular canaliculus, intercensal, intercept, interception, interceptor, intercession, intercessor, intercessory

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 forms

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

un·in·ter·cept·ing, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
“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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
The commission was sent for, and Riel tried to intercept the messenger, but failed to do so.
The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company|George Bryce
We returned to the loads, and, having picked them up, made a course to the east to intercept the other men.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
Following Subhan, I advanced to intercept them, and gained an eminence overlooking their position which was in a grassy hollow.
The Diary of a Hunter from the Punjab to the Karakorum Mountains|Augustus Henry Irby
Vigorous pursuit might intercept Lee on this side of the Potomac.
Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman|J. H. (James Harvey) Kidd
And then, before I could intercept her, she had lightly gestured her glass to mine, and in a flash the stuff was gone.
The Haunted Pajamas|Francis Perry Elliott

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 Forms

interception, 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

Science definitions for intercept

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.

intercept

verb (used with object)

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of intercept

Related forms

Examples from the Web for intercept

British Dictionary definitions for intercept

intercept

verb (ˌɪntəˈsɛpt) (tr)

noun (ˈɪntəˌsɛpt)

Derived Forms

Word Origin for intercept

Science definitions for intercept

intercept