capture the flag

noun

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of capture the flag

: a game in which players on each of two teams seek to capture the other team's flag and return it to their side without being captured and imprisoned

See capture the flag defined for kids

Recent Examples of capture the flag from the Web

With locations all over the country, little Lego fiends will build away, nary a dodgeball or game of capture the flag in sight.

— emily matchar, Smithsonian, "Ten Summer Camps For Little Innovators," 4 Apr. 2018
The activity is designed for the entire family and contains a wide variety of games such as capture the flag and team elimination.

— sheila vilvens, Cincinnati.com, "Indoor Nerf area at Newport on the Levee will save your lamps and TVs from destruction," 2 Feb. 2018
After a brief hot-chocolate warm-up inside the school, the students returned for a couple of spirited rounds of capture the flag, followed by a lunch of genuine U.S. Army MREs (meals ready to eat).

— brian albrecht, cleveland.com, "Cold lessons of trench warfare: Kent teens simulate combat in World War I re-enactment (photos, video)," 20 Jan. 2018
This is the first time SpaceX’s timetable to capture the flag is later than Boeing’s.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "The SpaceX vs. Boeing Race Just Got Too Close to Call," 12 Jan. 2018
Photo: no credit available Deadly trap The fighting on the floor of the Mohmand Valley is matched by a lethal game of capture the flag on the ridgelines above.

— michael m. phillips, WSJ, "In One Corner of Afghanistan, America Is Beating Islamic State," 10 Dec. 2017
Students from kindergarten to eighth grade played dodgeball, capture the flag, basketball and other games in an indoor sports gym in North Bethesda during the last weeks of August.

— donna st. george, Washington Post, "The extended summer of 2017: In Md., school starts after Labor Day," 3 Sep. 2017

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