ketch

[ kech ]

/ kɛtʃ /

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noun Nautical.

a sailing vessel rigged fore and aft on two masts, the larger, forward one being the mainmast and the after one, stepped forward of the rudderpost, being the mizzen or jigger.

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Compare yawl¹ (def. 2). See also schooner (def. 1), topsail schooner.

Origin of ketch

1475–85; earlier cache, apparently noun use of cache to catch

Words nearby ketch

kestrel, Keswick, Ket, keta, ketamine, ketch, Ketchikan, ketch-rigged, ketchup, kete, ketene

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ketch in a sentence

Our 114-foot-long ketch, which I’ll call Persephone, was anchored off the volcanic, uninhabited islands of Yemen’s Zubair archipelago.
Inhale, Exhale. Sitting with Grief on the Red Sea Floor.|jversteegh|January 10, 2022|Outside Online
Blamed if Matt didn't ketch the leader o' the gang without never knowin' it.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run|Stanley R. Matthews
They's times when I git mad and it all looks to be her fault, and then I ketch my own self startin' some hectorin' meanness.
Scattergood Baines|Clarence Budington Kelland
But you don't ketch me comin' over to no more cathedrils, and wastin' time and money all for nuthink—that's all!
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 108, April 6, 1895|Various

The birds an' flyin' things are jest as busy as the hand o' man, if ye know how to ketch 'em at it.
Country Neighbors|Alice Brown
Mebbe nobody won't ketch ye this time,—you better melt the tea-set up soon as ever you can,—but some time they will.
Country Neighbors|Alice Brown

British Dictionary definitions for ketch

ketch

/ (kɛtʃ) /

noun

a two-masted sailing vessel, fore-and-aft rigged, with a tall mainmast and a mizzen stepped forward of the rudderpostCompare yawl 1 (def. 1)

Word Origin for ketch

C15 cache, probably from cacchen to hunt; see catch

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

ketch

COMPARE MEANINGS

Origin of ketch

Words nearby ketch

Words related to ketch

How to use ketch in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ketch

Word Origin for ketch