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capture

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Take possession of by force, as after an invasion.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kapcher

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkæptʃɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Take possession of by force, as after an invasion

  2. transitive

    To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem.

  3. transitive

    To remove or take control of an opponent's piece in a game (e.g., chess, go, checkers).

  4. transitivefigurative

    To take hold of.

  5. transitive

    To store (as in sounds or image) for later revisitation.

  6. transitive

    To reproduce convincingly.

noun

  1. An act of capturing; a seizing by force or stratagem.

  2. The act of taking of a person by force

  3. The securing of an object of strife or desire, as by the power of some attraction.

  4. The recording or storage of something for later playback.

  5. The act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property

  6. Something that has been captured; a captive.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Take possession of by force, as after an invasion

Used this way, capture is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use capture

  • “She captured all the men's hearts.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

electron captureneutron capture

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: take possession of by force

seize

noun

Sense: capturing

catch

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.