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intercept

 - 4 dictionary results

in⋅ter⋅cept

  [v. in-ter-sept; n. in-ter-sept]
Use intercept in a Sentence
–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
12. an interception.
13. Mathematics.
a. an intercepted segment of a line.
b. (in a coordinate system) the distance from the origin to the point at which a curve or line intersects an axis.
Origin:
1535–45; < L interceptus ptp. of intercipere, equiv. to inter- inter- + -cep- (comb. form of cap-, s. of capere to take) + -tus ptp. suffix; cf. incipient

Related forms:
in⋅ter⋅cep⋅tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To intercept
in·ter·cept   (ĭn'tər-sěpt')   


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tr.v.   in·ter·cept·ed, in·ter·cept·ing, in·ter·cepts

  1. To stop, deflect, or interrupt the progress or intended course of: intercepted me with a message as I was leaving.

  2. Sports

    1. To gain possession of (an opponent's pass), as in football or basketball.

    2. To gain possession of a pass made by (an opponent), especially in football.

  3. Mathematics To include or bound (a part of a space or curve) between two points or lines.

  4. Archaic To prevent.

  5. Obsolete To cut off from access or communication.

n.   (ĭn'tər-sěpt')

  1. Mathematics The coordinate of a point at which a line, curve, or surface intersects a coordinate axis.

    1. The interception of a missile by another missile or an aircraft by another aircraft.

    2. Interception of a radio transmission.

  3. An interceptor.


[Middle English intercepten, from Latin intercipere, intercept- : inter-, inter- + capere, to seize; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]
in'ter·cep'tive adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

intercept 
c.1540, from L. interceptus, pp. of intercipere "take or seize between," from inter- "between" + -cipere, comb. form of capere "to take, catch" (see capable).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: in·ter·cept
Function: transitive verb
: to receive (a communication or signal directed elsewhere) usually secretly intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the communication —U.S. Code> —in·ter·ception noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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