intercept

[in-ter-sept, in-ter-sept]

verb (used with object)

1. 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.

2. to see or overhear (a message, transmission, etc., meant for another).

   We intercepted the enemy's battle plan.

3. to stop or check (passage, travel, etc.).

   to intercept the traitor's escape.

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

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

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

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

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

9. to intersect.

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

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

noun

1. an interception.

2. Mathematics.

   1. an intercepted segment of a line.

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

intercept

verb

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

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

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

noun

1. maths

   1. a point at which two figures intersect

   2. the distance from the origin to the point at which a line, curve, or surface cuts a coordinate axis

   3. an intercepted segment

2. sport the act of intercepting an opponent's pass

intercept

1. 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.

Other Word Forms

• interceptive adjective
• nonintercepting adjective
• noninterceptive adjective
• unintercepted adjective
• unintercepting adjective
• interception noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of intercept¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin interceptus, past participle of intercipere “to intercept,” equivalent to inter- “between, among, together” + -cep- (combining form of cap-, stem of capere “to take”) + -tus past participle suffix; inter-; incipient

Word History and Origins

Origin of intercept¹

C16: from Latin intercipere to seize before arrival, from _inter- + capere to take

Example Sentences

It said troops intercepted the drone, which was carrying eight guns.

Read more on Barron's

Cook had four passes intercepted in an 18-7 loss the first time the two teams met.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Kotarski made a complete hash of the attempt to intercept Johnson's run and the Wales winger calmly slotted into the empty net from an acute angle for his first goal in nine matches.

Read more on Barron's

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also paid tribute to the "breathtaking bravery" and "heroic acts of the passengers and train crew who intercepted the attacker".

Read more on BBC

While largely intercepted, his projectiles threatened oil facilities, his opponents’ main funding sources.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ambush 
• arrest 
• block 
• catch 
• cut off 
• deflect 
• hijack 
• prevent 
• seize 
• stop 
• take away