catchword

[kach-wurd] Origin

catch·word

[kach-wurd]
noun
1.
a memorable or effective word or phrase that is repeated so often that it becomes a slogan, as in a political campaign or in advertising a product.
2.
Also called headword, guide word. a word printed at the top of a page in a dictionary or other reference book to indicate the first or last entry or article on that page. Compare running head.
3.
a device, used especially in old books, to assist the binder in assembling signatures by inserting at the foot of each page the first word of the following page.
4.
keyword (def. 4).

Origin:
1720–30; catch + word
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To catchword

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Catchword is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Collins
World English Dictionary
catchword (ˈkætʃˌwɜːd)
 
n
1.  a word or phrase made temporarily popular, esp by a political campaign; slogan
2.  a word printed as a running head in a reference book
3.  theatre an actor's cue to speak or enter
4.  the first word of a printed or typewritten page repeated at the bottom of the page preceding

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

catchword
1730, "the first word of the following page inserted at the right-hand lower corner of each page of a book," from catch (v.) + word.; extended to "word caught up and repeated" (especially in the political sense) by 1795.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT