capture
Americanverb (used with object)
-
captures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
captured,
past participle, past
-
capturing
present participle
-
to take by force or stratagem; take prisoner; seize.
The police captured the burglar.
- Antonyms:
- release
-
to gain control of or exert influence over.
an ad that captured our attention;
a TV show that captured 30% of the prime-time audience.
-
to take possession of, as in a game or contest.
to capture a pawn in chess.
-
to represent or record in lasting form.
The movie succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s.
-
Computers.
-
to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage.
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to record (data) in preparation for such entry.
-
noun
-
captures
plural
-
the act of capturing.
- Synonyms:
- apprehension, arrest, seizure
- Antonyms:
- release
-
the thing or person captured.
-
Physics. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle.
-
Crystallography. substitution in a crystal lattice of a trace element for an element of lower valence.
verb
-
to take prisoner or gain control over
to capture an enemy
to capture a town
-
(in a game or contest) to win control or possession of
to capture a pawn in chess
-
to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive)
the artist captured her likeness
-
physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)
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to insert or transfer (data) into a computer
noun
-
the act of taking by force; seizure
-
the person or thing captured; booty
-
physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle
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Also called: piracy. geography the process by which the headwaters of one river are diverted into another through erosion caused by the second river's tributaries
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the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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capturesimple
-
capturessimple
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have capturedperfect
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has capturedperfect
-
am capturingprogressive
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are capturingprogressive
-
is capturingprogressive
-
have been capturingperfect progressive
-
has been capturingperfect progressive
Past
-
capturedsimple
-
had capturedperfect
-
was capturingprogressive
-
were capturingprogressive
-
had been capturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of capture
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin captūra, equivalent to capt(us) “taken” (past participle of capere “to take”) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
The verb to capture means to grab, trap, or take something that doesn't want to be grabbed, trapped, or taken. Hunters, pirates, and kidnappers all capture the things they want. If you want that tiger, you're going to have to capture him, either by setting a trap or shooting him. Either way, his capture won't be easy. You can also capture a photograph of something — which, while it doesn't mean taking it against its will, is still a kind of taking in which the thing itself is not participating. The pirate captured his hostages, while his hostages captured the scene on their cell-phone video cameras.
Vocabulary lists containing capture
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 1
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Words Every Pirate Should Know
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The "capture" hypothesis meanwhile postulates that the moons are asteroids from the outer Solar System that were captured by Mars' gravity.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
What these sales fail to capture is what people spend on services such as travel, recreation and entertainment.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
During the initial years of the motion picture, cameras, for example, were “too cumbersome” to capture anything but a “scheduled event,” Mr. Doherty writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
She also said NI's Department of Health must do more to "capture the data and numbers who have been harmed" and provide more support for families on a local level.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
This didn't sit well with Hoover, who had his own plan on the best way to capture the other saboteurs.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
He also captures the gentle, verdant beauty of this countryside, in contrast to the poverty and suffering it’s home to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
There’s one detail in that scene that captures the magnitude of the moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Tapeheads” captures a specific moment in Los Angeles history, sure to be nostalgic for some, from a desolate downtown to a percolating music scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Damon’s Odysseus captures all the heroic arrogance, bravery and selfish stupidity of an action-flick brawler who would shoot a giant cyclops in the eye as he’s making his escape, just because.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
Since our first moment here, my parents have been painfully cognizant of the camera in the common room of our Mercury Home that captures every second of our lives.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
Their first post captured Ararat El-Rawi, bursting with energy as he served them a multicourse meal including tabbouleh, lamb burgers, spinach pie, baklava and endless wine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
He noted that Chinese carmakers had captured nine percent of the EU market over the first five months of 2026 -- a figure that rose to 10.5 percent in June.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Gen Bagherzadeh said the three pilots had been captured by Qatar after they ejected from their jets during the combat mission on a Qatari military base.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
These findings point to the existence of an original moon system that was demolished when Triton, Neptune's biggest moon, was likely captured by the planet's gravity after it formed elsewhere in the solar system.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the next picture the oak tree outside my aunt’s boardinghouse is captured, in grease pencil, at change of season, the leaves all reds and golds.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act Muehl admitted to violating prohibits hunting, harassing, capturing, or killing any marine mammal in U.S. waters, or attempting to do so.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Pierre’s Stewart holds the gravitas of that portrayal while also capturing the original intent of his character’s co-creator, Neal Adams, to have him evoke a young Sidney Poitier.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
That’s a high price to pay for the once-in-a-year chance of capturing one of those spectacular one-day wonders.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
But what else are these omnipresent cameras capturing?
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Nyame had tasked Anansi with capturing one of the Mmoatia to satisfy his price for the Story Box.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
