capture
verbEtymology Borrowed from Middle French capture (noun), from Latin captūra. Displaced native Old English fenġ (noun) and ġefōn (verb).
1
To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem.
- to capture an enemy, a vessel, or a criminal
- Arrests and prosecutions intensified after Isis captured Mosul in June, but the groundwork had been laid by an earlier amendment to Jordan’s anti-terrorism law. It is estimated that 2,000 Jordanians have fought and 250 of them have died in Syria – making them the third largest Arab contingent in Isis after Saudi Arabians and Tunisians.2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian:
2 more examples
- […]I said it was because Tillerson hadn't filled the subordinate ranks with appointees who would advance the Administration's policies and that he had, in effect, been captured by the careerists.2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 29:
- Being so inflexible, the railway was easy prey to road competition, and the arrival of unregulated lorry transport from farm fields to town centres quickly captured all locally generated business.2020 November 18, Howard Johnston, “The missing 'Lincs' and the sole survivor”, in Rail, page 58:
2
Figuratively To take hold of.
- The paintings in the gallery really captured my imagination.
3
To store (as in sounds or image) for later revisitation.
- She captured the sounds of a subway station on tape.
- She captured the details of the fresco in a series of photographs.
1 more example
- Ultimately, whether you want to shoot digital or film, the object is to give the client what they want and to capture the image you want, the way you want it to look.2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 86:
4
To reproduce convincingly.
- His film adaptation captured the spirit of the original work.
- In her latest masterpiece, she captured the essence of Venice.
1 more example
- Winterhalter was gifted at capturing the luxurious fabrics and hairstyles of female royalty and he was commissioned to paint portraits of the continental Empresses Eugénie of France and Elizabeth of Austria.2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 86:
5
To remove or take control of an opponent’s piece in a game (e.g., chess, go, checkers).
- My pawn was captured.
- He captured his opponent’s queen on the 15th move.
1 more example
- How deeply ingrained capturing is in the mind of a chess master can be seen from this story.1954, Fred Reinfeld, How to Be a Winner at Chess, Garden City, NY: Hanover House, page 63:
- Synonyms
- seize, take away, abduct, kidnap, hold hostage, apprehend, begripe, capture, fang, grasp, get, gripe, lay hold of, rape, take, take hold
- Derived terms
40 terms
aerocapture, captee, capturability, capturable, capture card, capture effect, captureless, capture myopathy, capture the flag, carbon capture, cavicapture, chromosome conformation capture, cocapture, direct air capture, electron capture, electron capture detector, elite capture, encapture, glycocapture, image capture, immunocapture, lithocapture, magnetism-based interaction capture, motion capture, motion-capture, multicapture, neutron capture, oligocapture, photocapture, piscicapture, postcapture, precapture, proton capture, recapture, regulatory capture, screen capture, screen motion capture, slips and capture, state capture, uncapture