1 [count] : a hidden problem that makes something more complicated or difficult to do —usually singular ▪ The phone only costs $20, but there's a catch: you have to sign a two-year contract with the phone company. ▪ He said he would let me borrow his car, but I knew there had to be a catch. ▪ What's/Where's the catch?
2 a [count] : the act of stopping a moving object (such as a ball) and holding it in your hands : the act of catching something ▪ Great catch! ▪ The shortstop made a tough catch. b [noncount] : a game in which two or more people throw and catch a ball ▪ She used to play catch with her dad. ▪ Let's play a game of catch.
3 [count] : an amount of fish that has been caught ▪ a catch of about 20 fish ▪ She ordered the catch of the day. [=the fish offered on a particular day at a restaurant]
4 [count] old-fashioned : a person who would be very desirable as a husband or wife ▪ He was an excellent catch.
5 [count] : something that holds an object or stops the parts of an object from moving ▪ She fastened the catch on her purse. ▪ The catch on my grandmother's pin broke. ▪ a safety catch on a gun
6 [singular] : a short, sharp change or stop in a person's voice or breath while speaking ▪ I could hear the catch in his voice when he said his dead wife's name.