capture

Formscaptures, capturing, captured

Pluralcaptures

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To take control of someone or something by force or by a clever plan.

   Enemy forces captured the bridge before dawn.

   The unit was ordered to capture the outpost intact.

   Similarseize, take, storm

   Oppositerelease, free

   Note

   War and policing are its home ground: you capture an enemy, a vessel or a criminal. But the verb travels well beyond them. John Bolton's The Room Where It Happened (2020) has Tillerson "captured by the careerists," taken over from within by the people he should have directed. Howard Johnston in Rail (2020) has lorry transport capture a railway's local business. Used of institutions or markets, the verb means winning control without any force at all.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To record sounds or images so they can be revisited later.

   The microphones captured every note of the performance.

   Engineers built the device to capture both audio and video.

   Similarrecord, film

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of seizing someone or something by force or by a clever scheme.

   The capture of the city marked a turning point in the conflict.

   His sudden capture left the rebels without a leader.

   Similarseizure, taking, arrest, apprehension

   Oppositerelease, liberation

   Note

   English borrowed the word from Middle French capture, which comes from Latin captūra. It pushed out the native Old English nouns and verbs for seizing, fenġ and ġefōn. It has long belonged to the language of law as well as war: Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769) speaks plainly of captures made at sea. It counts freely (one capture, many captures), or it can name the act in general.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To represent something so faithfully that it feels true to life.

   Her novel captures the loneliness of small-town life.

   The film tries to capture the chaos of the era.

   Similarconvey, portray, evoke, depict

5. 5
   verbfigurativelytransitive

   To take hold of someone's attention, interest, or imagination.

   The mystery captured readers from the first page.

   A good speaker can capture an entire room.

   Similargrab, catch, seize

6. 6
   noununcountable

   The recording or storing of something so it can be played back later.

   Motion capture lets animators record real human movement.

   The capture of the audio failed because of a loose cable.

   Similarrecording

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To take or remove an opponent's piece in a board game such as chess, go, or checkers.

   He captured her queen and won the match.

   In checkers you must capture a piece whenever you can.

   Similartake

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A person or thing that has been seized; a captive.

   The general paraded his most valuable capture through the streets.

   The exotic animal was the zoo's latest capture.

   Similarcatch, prize, captive

9. 9
   noununcountable

   The securing of something fought over or desired, often through the force of some attraction.

   Her quick capture of his heart surprised everyone who knew how guarded he was.

   His capture of the audience's loyalty came from years of trust.

   Similarconquest, winning

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A particular substring matched by a pattern in a text string, held for later reference.

    The regular expression returned three captures from the log line.

    Each capture corresponds to a parenthesized group in the pattern.

    Note

    Programmers use the word for what a regular expression keeps, not only what it finds. A capture is the stretch of text matched by a parenthesized group, saved under a number or a name so it can be pulled out or referred back to later. Jeffrey Friedl's Mastering Regular Expressions (2006) reads a named capture through a Groups(name) property. The match is the whole hit, and the capture is the piece inside it you asked to keep.

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