intercept

1 of 2

verb

in·​ter·​cept ˌin-tər-ˈsept 

intercepted; intercepting; intercepts

transitive verb

1

a

: to stop, seize, or interrupt in progress or course or before arrival

b

: to receive (a communication or signal directed elsewhere) usually secretly

2

a

: to gain possession of (an opponent's pass)

b

: to intercept a pass thrown by (an opponent)

3

: to include (part of a curve, surface, or solid) between two points, curves, or surfaces

the part of a circumference intercepted between two radii

4

obsolete : prevent, hinder

5

obsolete : to interrupt communication or connection with

intercept

2 of 2

noun

in·​ter·​cept ˈin-tər-ˌsept 

1

: the distance from the origin to a point where a graph crosses a coordinate axis

2

: interception

especially : the interception of a missile by an interceptor or of a target by a missile

3

: a message, code, or signal that is intercepted (as by monitoring radio communications)

Did you know?

Since the prefix inter means "between", it's not hard to see how intercept was created. Arms shipments coming to a country are sometimes intercepted, but such interceptions can sometimes be understood as acts of war. In football, soccer, and basketball, players try to intercept the ball as it's being passed by the other team. In years gone by, letters and documents being carried between officers or officials were sometimes intercepted when the carrier was caught; today, when these communications are generally electronic, an intercepted email isn't actually stopped, but simply read secretly by a third party.

Synonyms

Verb

• block
• interdict
• pick off

Examples of intercept in a Sentence

Verb

Detectives have been intercepting her mail.

The police intercepted him as he was walking out.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Needing one final stop, the Lakers and Grizzlies scrambled for a loose ball, with James intercepting a pass while streaking the other way at full speed. —Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024

Are Americans nevertheless intercepted in foreign-surveillance operations? —The Editors, National Review, 12 Apr. 2024

They were swiftly intercepted — almost certainly with missiles from a Patriot. —Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024

This ensures that anyone who tries to intercept it will only see unintelligible content. —Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024

According to the ministry, air defense systems intercepted 44 UAVs over the Rostov region, six UAVs over the Krasnodar region, and one each over the Saratov, Kursk and Belgorod regions. —Anna Chernova, Victoria Butenko and Sophie Tanno, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024

The laws concerning intercepting planes are intricate. —Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

These are the technologies used by law enforcement and sometimes criminals to capture phone IDs and trick those phones into connecting to a copycat network, allowing calls and messages to be intercepted. —Zak Doffman, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Others, like Blaire’s team, intercept patients at the hospital. —Lauren Peace, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024

Noun

The large numbers of successful missile intercepts and strikes on Houthi targets tell a good news story for the coalition. —Andrew Metrick, Foreign Affairs, 28 Mar. 2024

Before the war, the Ukrainians proved themselves to the Americans by collecting intercepts that helped prove Russia’s involvement in the 2014 downing of a commercial jetliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. —Michael Schwirtz, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024

Iron Fist detects and intercepts—with a tiny projectile—enemy missiles and high-explosive rounds. —David Axe, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024

Last week, combat-ready Romanian and Turkish pilots guided their F-16s in Romanian airspace about 12 miles from the Black Sea, in a mock intercept of a military cargo plane, to demonstrate their ability to protect NATO air space. —Lara Jakes, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024

To achieve this, the B-1s flew as a simulated adversary and received intercepts from various NATO fighter aircraft across the Arctic, North Sea, and the Greenland, Iceland, and U.K. gap. —Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 1 Mar. 2024

Among the aims of Work’s AI initiative was a means to distill the vast amounts of information sucked up by satellites, phone intercepts, emails, and drones sitting in intelligence and military data banks into something accessible. —Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Jan. 2024

The blog post cited radio intercepts of conversations of troops operating in eastern Ukraine. —Cat Zakrzewski, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024

Check out the game recap below: Lions vs. Vikings game recap, highlights 2:08, fourth quarter: C.J. Gardner-Johnson intercepts Nick Mullens Welcome back, C.J. Gardner-Johnson. —Jared Ramsey, Detroit Free Press, 7 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Latin interceptus, past participle of intercipere, from inter- + capere to take, seize — more at heave entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Noun

1821, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing intercept

• y-intercept
• slope-intercept form
• x-intercept

Kids Definition

intercept

1 of 2 verb

in·​ter·​cept ˌint-ər-ˈsept 

1

: to take or seize on the way to or before arrival

intercept a letter

intercept a pass

2

: to include (part of a line, surface, or solid) between two points, curves, or surfaces

a line intercepted between points A and B

interception

-ˈsep-shən

noun

intercept

2 of 2 noun

in·​ter·​cept ˈint-ər-ˌsept 

: the distance from the origin of a coordinate system to a point where a graph (as of a line) crosses a coordinate axis

Etymology

Verb

from Latin interceptus, past participle of intercipere "to take or hinder in the course of," from inter- "between, in the course of" and cipere, a form of capere "to take, seize" — related to capture, except

Legal Definition

intercept

transitive verb

in·​ter·​cept

: to receive (a communication or signal directed elsewhere) usually secretly

shall not be unlawful…for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the communication

—U.S. Code

interception noun