capture









capture


verb (used with object), cap·tured, cap·tur·ing.

  1. to take by force or stratagem; take prisoner; seize: The police captured the burglar.
  2. to gain control of or exert influence over: an ad that captured our attention; a TV show that captured 30% of the prime-time audience.
  3. to take possession of, as in a game or contest: to capture a pawn in chess.
  4. to represent or record in lasting form: The movie succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s.
  5. Computers.
    1. to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage.
    2. to record (data) in preparation for such entry.

noun

  1. the act of capturing.
  2. the thing or person captured.
  3. Physics. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle.
  4. Crystallography. substitution in a crystal lattice of a trace element for an element of lower valence.

verb (tr)

  1. to take prisoner or gain control overto capture an enemy; to capture a town
  2. (in a game or contest) to win control or possession ofto capture a pawn in chess
  3. to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive)the artist captured her likeness
  4. physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)
  5. to insert or transfer (data) into a computer

noun

  1. the act of taking by force; seizure
  2. the person or thing captured; booty
  3. physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle
  4. Also called: piracy geography the process by which the headwaters of one river are diverted into another through erosion caused by the second river’s tributaries
  5. the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer
n.

1540s, from Middle French capture “a taking,” from Latin captura “a taking” (especially of animals), from captus (see captive).

v.

1795, from capture (n.); in chess, checkers, etc., 1820. Related: Captured; capturing. Earlier verb in this sense was captive (early 15c.).

n.

  1. The act of catching, taking, or holding a particle or impulse.
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