Etymology Borrowed from Latin interceptum, past participle of intercipiō.
1
To stop, deflect or divert (something in progress or motion).
The police intercepted the package of stolen goods while it was in transit.
[T]he emotion grew ſo violent that it almost intercepted my reſpiration.1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, page 67:
2 more examples
The rights of men in ſociety, are neither deviſeable, nor transferable, nor annihilable, but are deſcendable only; and it is not in the power of any generation to intercept finally, and cut off the deſcent.1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution, London: […] J. S. Jordan, […], →OCLC, page 129:
I must admit to being genuinely shocked when I saw those letters in my file. I always suspected that mail was monitored, but it never occurred to me that mail would be intercepted and opened.1976 December 18, Allen Young, “Speaking Out”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 9:
2
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To gain possession of (the ball) in a ball game.
Mathematics, Sciences To take or comprehend between.
5
To perform an aeronautical action in which a fighter approaches a suspicious aircraft to escort it away from a prohibited area, or approaches an enemy aircraft to shoot it down.
Because the horizontal-axis intercept occurs when y=0 and the vertical-axis intercept occurs when x=0, we can find the intercepts algebraically.2012, Alice Kaseberg, Greg Cripe, Peter Wildman, Introductory Algebra: Everyday Explorations, page 278:
4
Business, Marketing A form of market research where consumers are intercepted and interviewed in a retail store or mall.