capture

noun cap·ture \ ˈkap-chər , -shər \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

1 : an act or instance of capturing: such as

a : an act of catching, winning, or gaining control by force, stratagem, or guile

the capture of the city by enemy forces

b : a move in a board game (such as chess or checkers) that gains an opponent's piece

c : the absorption by an atom, nucleus, or particle of a subatomic particle that often results in subsequent emission of radiation or in fission

d : the act of recording in a permanent file

data capture

motion capture

2 : one that has been taken (such as a prize ship)

See capture defined for English-language learners

See capture defined for kids

Examples of capture in a Sentence

the capture of the city by enemy forces
a Spanish treasure ship was the most valuable capture ever taken by that privateer

Recent Examples of capture from the Web

One of the most compelling, known as direct air capture (DAC), uses giant banks of fans to blow air through a solution that contains a CO2-capturing chemical.

— robert f. service, Science | AAAS, "Cost plunges for capturing carbon dioxide from the air," 7 June 2018
The Expanse The crew of the Rocinante struggles to come up with a new game plan that will help them evade capture, and imminent destruction, as Anna (Elizabeth Mitchell) tries to stay aboard the Thomas Prince.

— ed stockly, latimes.com, "Wednesday's TV highlights: 'The Fosters' series finale on Freeform," 6 June 2018
Paws For Life Rescue in Troy is helping with the capture, transport, medical care, foster care and adoption.

— christina hall, Detroit Free Press, "Dead, sick, dehydrated cats scattered, dumped in Warren," 1 June 2018
And a Graham dance was captured in 3D, transforming Anne Souder, in a motion-capture suit, into an avatar — like a figure in a video game — when her performance was transferred to the screen.

— New York Times, "In the Dance Lab With Martha Graham," 25 May 2018
Frank, who, along with her family, hid in a secret annex to avoid Nazi capture during World War II, became famous for chronicling her time in hiding in a diary.

— mahita gajanan, Time, "Researchers Reveal Anne Frank's 'Dirty' Jokes In Hidden Diary Pages," 15 May 2018
Awlaki, who was on a terrorist capture/kill list, was killed by an American drone strike in Yemen September 2011.

— Fox News, "Confessions of a former jihadist recruiter who now deradicalizes potential terrorists," 3 May 2018
Throughout the ordeal, as the alligator shimmied and tried to resist capture, a yellow plastic pool-cleaning duck — wearing sunglasses — never wavered from its task.

— doug phillips, Sun-Sentinel.com, "9-foot-long alligator was unwanted pool guest," 20 Apr. 2018
Case in point: mother Kim Kardashian West's latest Instagram capture, which saw the mini West sporting a set of sleek space buns that rivaled the ears of her in-frame canine cohorts.

— calin van paris, Vogue, "North West Gets Ready for Her Close Up on Instagram," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'capture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of capture

Medieval French, from Latin captura, from captus — see ¹captive

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1542

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

capture Synonyms

Other Game Terms

bezique, carom, convention, crap, euchre, gambit, monte, parlay, tierce

capture

verb

captured; capturing play \ˈkap-chə-riŋ, ˈkap-shriŋ\

transitive verb

1 a : to take captive; also : to gain control of especially by force

capture a city

b : to gain or win especially through effort

captured 60 percent of the vote

2 a : to emphasize, represent, or preserve (something, such as a scene, mood, or quality) in a more or less permanent form

… at any such moment as a photograph might capture …
—C. E. Montague

b : to record in a permanent file (as in a computer)

The system is used to capture data relating to the buying habits of young people.

3 : to captivate and hold the interest of

The performer captured our attention.

4 : to take according to the rules of a game

A knight captured his pawn.

5 : to bring about the capture of (a subatomic particle)

6 astronomy : to draw into the gravitational influence of a larger body

Asteroids were thought to be too small to capture a moon, but the moon might be a fragment that broke off.
—Kenneth Chang

—

capturable

play \ˈkap-chə-rə-bəl, -shrə-bəl\ adjective

See capture defined for English-language learners

Examples of capture in a Sentence

They were captured by enemy soldiers.
using traps to capture mice
The city was captured by the Romans.
She captured 60 percent of the vote in the last election.
The company plans on capturing a larger segment of the market.
The show has captured the attention of teenagers.

Recent Examples of capture from the Web

The creative people are there only to help the survivors find their visual vocabulary and then to capture it.

— crocker stephenson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "A photo, a message: Survivors of sexual abuse reclaim their stories," 19 June 2018
And for me as a player, again, the business of the league hadn’t really captured me.

— dakota crawford, Indianapolis Star, "Where are they now? Clark Kellogg is on a golf course, waiting for hoops season," 18 June 2018
Two additional rabid bats were captured in Will County last week, bringing the number of rabid bat findings across the county this year to four — as many as were found in Will County all of last year, a health department spokesman said.

— zak koeske, Daily Southtown, "2 more rabid bats found in Will County," 18 June 2018
Along with detailing what image was captured by friends, users were also given the handle of the person who had saved the image, making any and all discrete Internet sleuthing on your crush just about impossible.

— lauren rearick, Teen Vogue, "Instagram Will No Longer Alert Users About Screenshots," 16 June 2018
In the end, this system captured data on 87 million Facebook users.

— cyrus farivar, Ars Technica, "In nearly 500 pages of answers, Facebook stonewalls some senators’ questions," 16 June 2018
After robbing the US Bank, the suspect changed clothes at a nearby fast-food restaurant and surveillance cameras captured him wearing a white T-shirt and light grey shorts, the FBI said.

— julie gallant, Ramona Sentinel, "FBI seeks identity of "Skinny Bandit" bank robber," 15 June 2018
The June 6 incident was captured by surveillance cameras inside and outside the bar.

— cameron knight, Cincinnati.com, "Video: Cruise Inn shooting that left one person shot in the head," 15 June 2018
The incident was captured by Tom Namako of BuzzFeed and confirmed by Jiang on Twitter.

— marina liao, Marie Claire, "Trump Called a Woman Reporter "So Obnoxious" for Literally Doing Her Job," 15 June 2018

First Known Use of capture

1574

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

capture Synonyms

Synonyms

bag, catch, collar, cop [slang], corral, get, glom, grab, grapple, hook, land, nab, nail, net, rap, seize, snag, snap (up), snare, snatch, trap;

Antonyms

miss;

Near Antonyms

discharge, free, liberate, release;

drop, loosen, unhand;

Related Words

glove, halter, lasso, rope;

apprehend, arrest, detain;

bay, corner;

clasp, clutch, fasten (on), fist, grasp, grip, hold, latch (on or onto), secure;

rend, wrest;

enmesh (also immesh), ensnare, entangle, entrap, mesh;

abduct, kidnap, spirit (away or off);

Phrases

take hold (of);

Synonym Discussion of capture

catch, capture, trap, snare, entrap, ensnare, bag mean to come to possess or control by or as if by seizing. catch implies the seizing of something in motion or in flight or in hiding.

- caught the dog as it ran by

capture suggests taking by overcoming resistance or difficulty.

- capture an enemy stronghold

trap, snare, entrap, ensnare imply seizing by some device that holds the one caught at the mercy of the captor. trap and snare apply more commonly to physical seizing.

- trap animals
- snared butterflies with a net

entrap and ensnare more often are figurative.

- entrapped the witness with a trick question
- a sting operation that ensnared burglars

bag implies shooting down a fleeing or distant prey.

- bagged a brace of pheasants

CAPTURE Defined for English Language Learners

capture

noun

: the act of taking and holding someone as a prisoner or of being taken as a prisoner
: the act of getting control of something
: the act of putting information in a form that a computer can use or read

capture

verb

: to take and hold (someone) as a prisoner especially by using force
: to catch (an animal)
: to get control of (a place) especially by using force

CAPTURE Defined for Kids

capture

verb cap·ture \ ˈkap-chər \

captured; capturing

1 : to take and hold especially by force

The eagle captured its prey.

2 : to win or get through effort

The candidate captured more than half the vote.

3 : to get and hold

The seaweed strewn about … had captured her attention.
—Kevin Henkes, Olive's Ocean

4 : to put into a lasting form

She captured the scene in a photo.

Word Root of capture

The Latin word capere, meaning “to seize” or “to take,” and its form captus give us the roots cap, capt, and cept. Words from the Latin capere have something to do with taking. To capture is to take something or someone by using force. To accept is to take something willingly. Anyone capable of doing something is able to take on that task.