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fetch

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To retrieve; to bear towards.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fehch
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɛtʃ

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. transitiveditransitive

    To retrieve; to bear towards; to go and get.

  2. transitive

    To obtain as price or equivalent; to sell for.

  3. transitive

    To cause to come; to bring to a particular state.

  4. Go or come after and bring or take back

  5. intransitive

    To bring oneself; to make headway; to veer; as, to fetch about; to fetch to windward.

  6. transitive

    To reduce; to throw.

noun

  1. The action of fetching

  2. also figuratively

    An act of fetching, of bringing something from a distance.

  3. uncountable

    A game played with a dog in which a person throws an object for the dog to retrieve.

  4. The object of fetching; the source of an attraction; a force, propensity, or quality which attracts.

  5. An area over which wind is blowing (over water) and generating waves.

  6. The length of such an area; the distance a wave can travel across a body of water (without obstruction).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (transitive, ditransitive) To retrieve; to bear towards; to go and get.

Used this way, fetch 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.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

fetch waterinstruction fetch

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • pull

    To retrieve or look up for use.

  • draw in

    To get (someone) involved.

  • bring

    To transport toward somebody/somewhere.

  • get

    To obtain; to acquire.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • fetch upverbCompound term

    Finally be or do something.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to retrieve

bringgetdrawArchaicpullattractdraw inpull in

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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.