capture

[ kap-cher ]
See synonyms for capture on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),cap·tured, cap·tur·ing.
  1. to take by force or stratagem; take prisoner; seize: The police captured the burglar.

  2. 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.

  1. to take possession of, as in a game or contest: to capture a pawn in chess.

  2. to represent or record in lasting form: The movie succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s.

  3. Computers.

    • to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage.

    • to record (data) in preparation for such entry.

noun
  1. the act of capturing.

  2. the thing or person captured.

  1. Physics. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle.

  2. Crystallography. substitution in a crystal lattice of a trace element for an element of lower valence.

Origin of capture

1
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin captūra, equivalent to capt(us) “taken” (past participle of capere “to take”) + -ūra -ure

Other words for capture

Opposites for capture

Other words from capture

  • cap·tur·a·ble, adjective
  • cap·tur·er, noun
  • pre·cap·ture, adjective, verb (used with object), pre·cap·tured, pre·cap·tur·ing.
  • un·cap·tur·a·ble, adjective
  • un·cap·tured, adjective

Words Nearby capture

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use capture in a sentence

  • Then, if you gentlemen are successful here, and capture Fulton and Jefferson City, our brightest hopes will be fulfilled.

  • The events which succeeded this fortunate capture are too well known to require more than a very brief recapitulation.

  • It was a very dangerous one, too, and sometimes lives were sacrificed in his efforts to capture or to kill this fierce wild beast.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • Altogether, we spent five consecutive days hovering around that collection of law-enforcers, in imminent risk of capture.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • The capture of Independence greatly elated the guerrillas, and recruits came pouring in by the hundreds.

British Dictionary definitions for capture

capture

/ (ˈkæptʃə) /


verb(tr)
  1. to take prisoner or gain control over: to capture an enemy; to capture a town

  2. (in a game or contest) to win control or possession of: to capture a pawn in chess

  1. to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive): the artist captured her likeness

  2. physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)

  3. to insert or transfer (data) into a computer

noun
  1. the act of taking by force; seizure

  2. the person or thing captured; booty

  1. physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle

  2. 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

  3. the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer

Origin of capture

1
C16: from Latin captūra a catching, that which is caught, from capere to take

Derived forms of capture

  • capturer, noun

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