Catcher Meaning
/ˈkæt͡ʃə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounSomeone or something that catches.
nounThe player who squats behind home plate and receives the pitches from the pitcher.
Sentence Examples
It happens that we have two copies of Catcher in the Rye.
The other day, we chose Yoshida to be the catcher on our school's baseball team.
Tom is the best high school catcher I've ever seen.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The player behind home plate is called the ____ in baseball.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the game of baseball, the ____ stands directly behind the plate tonight.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Vulgar Latin captus Proto-Indo-European *-yetider. Vulgar Latin -io Vulgar Latin *captiāre Old French chacierbor. Anglo-Norman cachierbor. Middle English cacchen English catch Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English catcher From catch + -er.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Finding Dempsey in my mind's eye in January was not quite startling, ...but some other catchers turned up in my hot-stove reveries as well. Bob Boone, for instance."
— 1989 February 13, Roger Angell, Season Ticket: A Baseball Companion, Ballantine Books, page 22:
"A “pitchometer” was installed on the scoreboard to time the pitchers. According the baseball rules a pitcher had to throw a pitch within 20 seconds after he received the ball from the catcher when there was nobody on base."
— 2003, John E. Peterson, The Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History: 1954–1967, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 210:
"At the plate the catcher is responsible for catching pitches, keeping mispitched balls in front of the plate, calling pitches that are normally done through hand signals, picking off runners, and they are considered the leaders of the field."
— 2021, University of the District of Columbia, “The plate umpire may suspend play because of darkness”, in Course Hero:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The player behind home plate is called the ____ in baseball.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the game of baseball, the ____ stands directly behind the plate tonight.