Catch vs. Call — What's the Difference?

Intercept and hold (something which has been thrown, propelled, or dropped)

To say in a loud voice; announce

Capture (a person or animal that tries or would try to escape)

To demand or ask for the presence of

(of an object) accidentally become entangled or trapped in something

To demand or ask for a meeting of; convene or convoke

Reach in time and board (a train, bus, or aircraft)

To order or request to undertake a particular activity or work; summon

Engage (a person's interest or imagination)

To give the command for; order

Strike (someone) on a part of the body

To communicate or try to communicate with by telephone

Contract (an illness) through infection or contagion

To dial (a telephone number)

Become ignited and start burning

To lure (prey) by imitating the characteristic cry of an animal

An act of catching something, typically a ball.

To cause to come to the mind or to attention

A game in which a ball is thrown back and forth between two or more players.

To name

A device for securing something such as a door, window, or box

To consider or regard as being of a particular type or kind; characterize

A hidden problem or disadvantage in an apparently ideal situation

To designate; label

An unevenness in a person's voice caused by emotion

To demand payment of

A round, typically one with words arranged to produce a humorous effect.

To require the presentation of (a bond) for redemption before maturity.

To get and hold (something that has been in motion) in a hand, the hands, a container, or an implement

To force the sale of (a stock or commodity) by exercising a call option.

To take hold of, especially forcibly or suddenly; grasp

To stop or postpone (a game) because of bad weather, darkness, or other adverse conditions.

To stop (oneself) from doing an action

To declare in the capacity of an umpire or referee

To capture or seize, especially after a chase

To indicate a decision in regard to

To capture or take by trapping, snaring, or some other means

To give the orders or signals for

To take in and hold or contain

To describe the intended outcome of (one's billiard shot) before playing.

To discover or come upon suddenly, unexpectedly, or accidentally

In poker, to place a bet equal to (the preceding bet or bettor).

To become cognizant or aware of suddenly

To indicate or characterize accurately in advance; predict

To reach just in time; get so as to be carried by

To challenge the truthfulness or genuineness of

To overtake

To shout directions in rhythm for (a square dance).

To cause to become hooked, entangled, or fastened

To speak loudly; shout

To hold up; delay

To utter a characteristic cry. Used of an animal

To make contact with; strike

To communicate or try to communicate with someone by telephone

To propel an object so that it hits (something)

To pay a short visit

To become subject to or to contract, as by exposure to a pathogen

(Games) In poker, to place a bet equal to the preceding bet.

To become affected by or infused with

A loud cry; a shout.

To suffer from the receipt of (criticism, for example)

The characteristic cry of an animal.

To perceive suddenly or momentarily

A sound or an instrument made to imitate such a cry, used as a lure

To hear or listen to

A telephone communication or connection.

To grasp mentally; apprehend

Need or occasion

To go to see (a performance, for example)

Demand

To get (something required), usually quickly or for a brief period

A claim on a person's time or life

To attract and fix; arrest

A short visit, especially one made as a formality or for business or professional purposes.

To reproduce or represent effectively

A summons or invitation.

To deceive

A signal, such as that made by a horn or bell.

(Baseball) To play (a game) as catcher.

The sounding of a horn to encourage hounds during a hunt.

To become held, entangled, or fastened

A strong inner urge or prompting; a vocation

To act or move so as to hold or grab someone or something

The strong attraction or appeal of a given activity or environment

To be communicable or infectious; spread.

A roll call.

To become ignited

A notice of rehearsal times posted in a theater.

(Baseball) To act as catcher.

A decision made by an umpire or referee.

The act of catching, especially the grabbing and holding of a thrown, kicked, or batted ball before it hits the ground.

An announced description of a game or race, as by a sportscaster.

A game of throwing and catching a ball.

A direction or series of directions rhythmically called out to square dancers.

A quantity that is caught

A demand for payment of a debt.

Something that is perceived or noticed

A demand to submit bonds to the issuer for redemption before the maturity date.

(Informal) A person considered to be an attractive or admirable romantic partner.

An option to buy a certain quantity of a stock or commodity for a specified price within a specified time.

A tricky or previously unsuspected condition or drawback

A demand for payment due on stock bought on margin when the value has shrunk.

A device for fastening something or for checking motion

A telephone conversation; a phone call.

A choking or stoppage of the breath or voice

An instance of calling someone on the telephone.

A snatch; a fragment

A short visit, usually for social purposes.

(Music) A canonic, often rhythmically intricate composition for three or more voices, popular especially in the 17th and 18th centuries.

(nautical) A visit by a ship or boat to a port.

(countable) The act of seizing or capturing.

A cry or shout.

(countable) The act of catching an object in motion, especially a ball.

A decision or judgement.

(countable) The act of noticing, understanding or hearing.

The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.

(uncountable) The game of catching a ball.

A beckoning or summoning.

(countable) Something which is captured or caught.

The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.

A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse.

(finance) call option

(countable) A stopping mechanism, especially a clasp which stops something from opening.

(cricket) The act of calling to the other batsman.

(countable) A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion.

(cricket) The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)

A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation.

(uncountable) A work shift which requires one to be available when requested, i.e. on call.

(countable) A crick; a sudden muscle pain during unaccustomed positioning when the muscle is in use.

(computing) The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.

(countable) A fragment of music or poetry.

A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.

(obsolete) A state of readiness to capture or seize; an ambush.

(poker) The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.

A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.

A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.

(obsolete) A type of strong boat, usually having two masts; a ketch.

(nautical) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.

A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics.

A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.

The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse.

An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.

The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out.

(archaic) Vocation; employment; calling.

A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well.

A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.

The first contact of an oar with the water.

A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.

A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.

(law) A lawyer who was called to the bar (became licensed as a lawyer) in a specified year.

Passing opportunities seized; snatches.

(in negative constructions) Need; necessity.

A slight remembrance; a trace.

To use one's voice.

(heading) To capture, overtake.

(intransitive) To request, summon, or beckon.

(transitive) To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape).

(intransitive) To cry or shout.

(transitive) To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive.

(transitive) To utter in a loud or distinct voice.

To marry or enter into a similar relationship with.

(ambitransitive) To contact by telephone.

(transitive) To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc.

(transitive) To declare in advance.

(transitive) To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for.

To rouse from sleep; to awaken.

(transitive) To unpleasantly discover unexpectedly; to unpleasantly surprise (someone doing something).

To declare (an effort or project) to be a failure.

(transitive) To travel by means of.

To request that one's band play (a particular tune).

To become pregnant. (Only in past tense or as participle.)

To visit.

(heading) To seize hold of.

To pay a (social) visit often used with "on", "round", or "at"; used by salespeople with "again" to invite customers to come again.

To grab, seize, take hold of.

To stop at a station or port.

(transitive) To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep.

To come to pass; to afflict.

(transitive) To grip or entangle.

To name, identify or describe.

(intransitive) To be held back or impeded.

(ditransitive) To name or refer to.

(intransitive) To engage with some mechanism; to stick, to succeed in interacting with something or initiating some process.

(in passive) Of a person, to have as one's name; of a thing, to have as its name.

(transitive) To have something be held back or impeded.

(transitive) To predict.

(intransitive) To make a grasping or snatching motion (at).

To state, or estimate, approximately or loosely; to characterize without strict regard to fact.

(transitive) Of fire, to spread or be conveyed to.

(transitive) To formally recognise a death: especially to announce and record the time, place and fact of a person’s death.

To grip (the water) with one's oars at the beginning of the stroke.

(transitive) To claim the existence of some malfeasance; to denounce as.

To germinate and set down roots.

(obsolete) To disclose the class or character of; to identify.

To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore.

Direct or indirect use of the voice.

To handle an exception.

(cricket) (of a batsman): To shout directions to the other batsman on whether or not they should take a run.

(heading) To intercept.

(of a fielder): To shout to other fielders that he intends to take a catch (thus avoiding collisions).

(transitive) To seize or intercept an object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium).

To equal the same amount that other players are currently betting.

To seize (an opportunity) when it occurs.

To match the current bet amount, in preparation for a raise in the same turn. (Usually, players are forbidden to announce one's play this way.)

To end a player's innings by catching a hit ball before the first bounce.

(transitive) To state, or invoke a rule, in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.

To play (a specific period of time) as the catcher.

To require, demand.

(heading) To receive (by being in the way).

To cause to be verbally subjected to.

(transitive) To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.).

To lay claim to an object or role which is up for grabs.

(transitive) To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure.

To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.

(transitive) To become infected by (an illness).

To demand repayment of a loan.

(intransitive) To spread by infection or similar means.

To jump to (another part of a program) to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.

To receive or be affected by (wind, water, fire etc.).

(Yorkshire) To scold.

(transitive) To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection.

(sports) To make a decision as a referee or umpire.

(transitive) To be hit by something.

(cue sports) To tell in advance which shot one is attempting.

(intransitive) To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish.

To command or request to come or be present; to summon; as, to call a servant.

To get pregnant.

To summon to the discharge of a particular duty; to designate for an office, or employment, especially of a religious character; - often used of a divine summons; as, to be called to the ministry; sometimes, to invite; as, to call a minister to be the pastor of a church.

(heading) To take in with one's senses or intellect.

To invite or command to meet; to convoke; - often with together; as, the President called Congress together; to appoint and summon; as, to call a meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

(transitive) To grasp mentally: perceive and understand.

To give name to; to name; to address, or speak of, by a specifed name.

To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment).

To regard or characterize as of a certain kind; to denominate; to designate.

(transitive) To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully.

To state, or estimate, approximately or loosely; to characterize without strict regard to fact; as, they call the distance ten miles; he called it a full day's work.

(heading) To seize attention, interest.

To show or disclose the class, character, or nationality of.

(transitive) To charm or entrance.

To utter in a loud or distinct voice; - often with off; as, to call, or call off, the items of an account; to call the roll of a military company.

(transitive) To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense).

To invoke; to appeal to.

To lay hold on; to seize, especially with the hand; to grasp (anything) in motion, with the effect of holding; as, to catch a ball.

To rouse from sleep; to awaken.

To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief.

To speak in loud voice; to cry out; to address by name; - sometimes with to.

To take captive, as in a snare or net, or on a hook; as, to catch a bird or fish.

To make a demand, requirement, or request.

Hence: To insnare; to entangle.

To make a brief visit; also, to stop at some place designated, as for orders.

To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to catch a melody.

The act of calling; - usually with the voice, but often otherwise, as by signs, the sound of some instrument, or by writing; a summons; an entreaty; an invitation; as, a call for help; the bugle's call.

To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the adjoining building.

A signal, as on a drum, bugle, trumpet, or pipe, to summon soldiers or sailors to duty.

To engage and attach; to please; to charm.

An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.

To get possession of; to attain.

A requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of the case; a moral requirement or appeal.

To take or receive; esp. to take by sympathy, contagion, infection, or exposure; as, to catch the spirit of an occasion; to catch the measles or smallpox; to catch cold; the house caught fire.

A divine vocation or summons.

To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to catch one in the act of stealing.

Vocation; employment.

To reach in time; to come up with; as, to catch a train.

A short visit; as, to make a call on a neighbor; also, the daily coming of a tradesman to solicit orders.

To attain possession.

A note blown on the horn to encourage the hounds.

To be held or impeded by entanglement or a light obstruction; as, a kite catches in a tree; a door catches so as not to open.

A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate, to summon the sailors to duty.

To take hold; as, the bolt does not catch.

The cry of a bird; also a noise or cry in imitation of a bird; or a pipe to call birds by imitating their note or cry.

To spread by, or as by, infecting; to communicate.

A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.

Act of seizing; a grasp.

The privilege to demand the delivery of stock, grain, or any commodity, at a fixed, price, at or within a certain time agreed on.

That by which anything is caught or temporarily fastened; as, the catch of a gate.

See Assessment, 4.

The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to lay hold of, or of watching he opportunity to seize; as, to lie on the catch.

A telephone connection;

That which is caught or taken; profit; gain; especially, the whole quantity caught or taken at one time; as, a good catch of fish.

A special disposition (as if from a divine source) to pursue a particular course;

Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife in matrimony.

A loud utterance; often in protest or opposition;

Passing opportunities seized; snatches.

A demand especially in the phrase

A slight remembrance; a trace.

The characteristic sound produced by a bird;

A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the singers catch up each other's words.

A brief social visit;

A hidden drawback;

A demand by a broker that a customer deposit enough to bring his margin up to the minimum requirement

The quantity that was caught;

A demand for a show of hands in a card game;

A person regarded as a good matrimonial prospect

A request;

Anything that is caught (especially if it is worth catching);

An instruction that interrupts the program being executed;

A break or check in the voice (usually a sign of strong emotion)

Brief visit in an official or professional capacity;

A restraint that checks the motion of something;

(sports) the decision made by an umpire or referee;

A fastener that fastens or locks a door or window

The option to buy a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date

A cooperative game in which a ball is passed back and forth;

Assign a specified, proper name to;

The act of catching an object with the hands;

Get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone;

The act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal);

Ascribe a quality to or give a name of a common noun that reflects a quality;

Discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state;

Order, request, or command to come;

Perceive with the senses quickly, suddenly, or momentarily;

Utter a sudden loud cry;

Reach with a blow or hit in a particular spot;

Pay a brief visit;

Take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of;

Call a meeting; invite or command to meet;

Succeed in catching or seizing, especially after a chase;

Order or request or give a command for;

To hook or entangle;

Order, summon, or request for a specific duty or activity, work, role;

Attract and fix;

Indicate a decision in regard to;

Capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping;

Stop or postpone because of adverse conditions, such as bad weather;

Reach in time;

Read aloud to check for omissions or absentees;

Get or regain something necessary, usually quickly or briefly;

Send a message or attempt to reach someone by radio, phone, etc.; make a signal to in order to transmit a message;

Catch up with and possibly overtake;

Declare in the capacity of an umpire or referee;

Be struck or affected by;

Utter a characteristic note or cry;

Check oneself during an action;

Utter in a loud voice or announce;

Hear, usually without the knowledge of the speakers;

Make a prediction about; tell in advance;

See or watch;

Challenge (somebody) to make good on a statement; charge with or censure for an offense;

Cause to become accidentally or suddenly caught, ensnared, or entangled;

Consider or regard as being;

Detect a blunder or misstep;

Demand payment of (a loan);

Grasp with the mind or develop an undersatnding of;

Give the calls (to the dancers) for a square dance

Contract;

Greet, as with a prescribed form, title, or name;

Start burning;

Make a stop in a harbour;

Perceive by hearing;

Make a demand, as for a card or a suit or a show of hands;

Suffer from the receipt of;

Require the presentation of for redemption before maturation;

Attract; cause to be enamored;

Lure by imitating the characteristic call of an animal;

Apprehend and reproduce accurately;

Challenge the sincerity or truthfulness of;

Take in and retain;

Rouse somebody from sleep with a call;

Spread or be communicated;

Be the catcher;

Become aware of;

Delay or hold up; prevent from proceeding on schedule or as planned;