Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Infectious, contagious: Describes a disease that can be transmitted from one person or organism to another.
   • Attractive, captivating: Describes something that is appealing and quickly gains attention or popularity.

2. Noun:

   • The act of becoming infected: The process of contracting a disease or illness.
   • The act of detecting or sighting: The action of discovering, noticing, or seeing something.
   • (In baseball): The action or position of playing as the catcher.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Chickenpox is a highly catching disease, especially among children.
  • The new song has a very catching melody that everyone remembers.

• Noun:

  • The catching of the flu ruined our vacation plans.
  • The early catching of the error prevented a major problem.
  • His catching for the team is excellent; he rarely misses a pitch.

Advanced Usage

• "Catching on" (as a concept): Becoming popular or understood.
  • The new trend is catching on quickly with teenagers.
• Used in medical/epidemiological contexts: Often describes the transmissibility of pathogens.
  • The virus is more catching in crowded environments.

Variants and Related Words

• Catch (verb): To capture, to contract (a disease), to understand.
  • I hope I don't catch your cold.
• Catcher (noun): The baseball player who catches pitches.
  • The catcher signaled for a fastball.
• Catchy (adjective): Easily remembered (like a tune).
  • The advertisement had a catchy slogan.

Synonyms

• Adjective (for disease): Communicable, transmissible, infectious.
• Adjective (for appeal): Engaging, captivating, fetching.
• Noun (for act of capturing): Detection, apprehension, sighting.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Catch up: To reach someone who is ahead; to learn the latest news.
  • I need to catch up on my reading.
• Catch out: To detect someone in an error or wrongdoing.
  • The teacher caught him out cheating on the test.

Related Idioms

• Catch someone's eye: To attract someone's attention.
  • The bright red dress caught everyone's eye.
• Catch-22: A no-win situation or a paradoxical rule.
  • Needing experience to get a job but needing a job to get experience is a real Catch-22.

Adjective

1. (of disease) capable of being transmitted by infection

Noun

1. becoming infected
   • catching cold is sometimes unavoidable
   • the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic
2. the act of detecting something; catching sight of something
3. (baseball) playing the position of catcher on a baseball team