The difference between Catch and Refrain

When used as nouns, catch means the act of seizing or capturing, whereas refrain means the chorus or of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.

When used as verbs, catch means to capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape), whereas refrain means to hold back, to restrain (someone or something).

check bellow for the other definitions of Catch and Refrain

  1. Catch as a noun (countable):

    The act of seizing or capturing.

    Examples:

    "The catch of the perpetrator was the product of a year of police work."

  2. Catch as a noun (countable):

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

    Examples:

    "The player made an impressive catch."

    "Nice catch!"

  3. Catch as a noun (countable):

    The act of noticing, understanding or hearing.

    Examples:

    "Good catch. I never would have remembered that."

  4. Catch as a noun (uncountable):

    The game of catching a ball.

    Examples:

    "The kids love to play catch."

  5. Catch as a noun (countable):

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

    Examples:

    "Did you see his latest catch?"

    "He's a good catch."

  6. Catch as a noun (countable):

    Something which is captured or caught.

    Examples:

    "The fishermen took pictures of their catch."

    "The catch amounted to five tons of swordfish."

  7. Catch as a noun (countable):

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

    Examples:

    "She installed a sturdy catch to keep her cabinets closed tight."

  8. Catch as a noun (countable):

    A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion.

    Examples:

    "There was a catch in his voice when he spoke his father's name."

  9. Catch as a noun (countable, sometimes, _, noun adjunct):

    A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation.

    Examples:

    "It sounds like a great idea, but what's the catch?"

    "Be careful, that's a catch question."

  10. Catch as a noun (countable):

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

    Examples:

    "I bent over to see under the table and got a catch in my side."

  11. Catch as a noun (countable):

    A fragment of music or poetry.

  12. Catch as a noun (obsolete):

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

  13. Catch as a noun (countable, agriculture):

    A crop which has germinated and begun to grow.

  14. Catch as a noun (obsolete):

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

  15. Catch as a noun (countable, music):

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

  16. Catch as a noun (countable, music):

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

  17. Catch as a noun (countable, cricket, baseball):

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

  18. Catch as a noun (countable, cricket):

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

  19. Catch as a noun (countable, rowing):

    The first contact of an oar with the water.

  20. Catch as a noun (countable, phonetics):

    A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.

  21. Catch as a noun:

    Passing opportunities seized; snatches.

  22. Catch as a noun:

    A slight remembrance; a trace.

  1. Catch as a verb:

    To capture, overtake. To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape). To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive. To marry or enter into a similar relationship with. To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc. To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for. To unpleasantly discover unexpectedly; to unpleasantly surprise (someone doing something). To travel by means of. To become pregnant. (Only in past tense or as participle.)

    Examples:

    "I hope I catch a fish.  nowrap He ran but we caught him at the exit.  nowrap The police caught the robber at a nearby casino."

    "If he catches you on the chin, you'll be on the mat."

    "If you leave now you might catch him.  nowrap I would love to have dinner but I have to catch a plane."

    "He was caught on video robbing the bank.  nowrap He was caught in the act of stealing a biscuit."

    "'catch the bus"

  2. Catch as a verb:

    To seize hold of. To grab, seize, take hold of. To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep. To grip or entangle. To be held back or impeded. To engage with some mechanism; to stick, to succeed in interacting with something or initiating some process. To have something be held back or impeded. To make a grasping or snatching motion (at). Of fire, to spread or be conveyed to. To grip (the water) with one's oars at the beginning of the stroke. To germinate and set down roots. To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore. To handle an exception.

    Examples:

    "I caught her by the arm and turned her to face me."

    "I have to stop for a moment and catch my breath.  nowrap I caught some Z's on the train."

    "My leg was caught in a tree-root."

    "Be careful your dress doesn't catch on that knob.  nowrap His voice caught when he came to his father's name."

    "Push it in until it catches.  nowrap The engine finally caught and roared to life."

    "I caught my heel on the threshold."

    "He caught at the railing as he fell."

    "The fire spread slowly until it caught the eaves of the barn."

    "The seeds caught and grew."

    "When the program catches an exception, this is recorded in the log file."

  3. Catch as a verb:

    To intercept. To seize or intercept an object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium). To seize (an opportunity) when it occurs. To end a player's innings by catching a hit ball before the first bounce. To play (a specific period of time) as the catcher.

    Examples:

    "I will throw you the ball, and you catch it.  nowrap Watch me catch this raisin in my mouth."

    "Townsend hit 29 before he was caught by Wilson."

    "He caught the last three innings."

  4. Catch as a verb:

    To receive (by being in the way). To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.). To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure. To be infected by (an illness). To spread by infection or similar means. To receive or be affected by (wind, water, fire etc.). To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection. To be hit by something. To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish. To get pregnant.

    Examples:

    "You're going to catch a beating if they find out."

    "The sunlight caught the leaves and the trees turned to gold.  nowrap Her hair was caught by the light breeze."

    "Everyone seems to be catching the flu this week."

    "The bucket catches water from the downspout.  nowrap The trees caught quickly in the dry wind."

    "She finally caught the mood of the occasion."

    "He caught a bullet in the back of the head last year."

    "Well, if you didn't catch this time, we'll have more fun trying again until you do."

  5. Catch as a verb:

    To take in with one's senses or intellect. To grasp mentally: perceive and understand. To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment). To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully.

    Examples:

    "Did you catch his name?  nowrap Did you catch the way she looked at him?"

    "I have some free time tonight so I think I'll catch a movie."

    "You've really caught his determination in this sketch."

  6. Catch as a verb:

    To seize attention, interest. To charm or entrance. To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense).

    Examples:

    "He managed to catch her attention.  nowrap The enormous scarf did catch my eye."

  7. Catch as a verb:

    To obtain or experience

  1. Refrain as a verb (transitive, archaic):

    To hold back, to restrain (someone or something).

  2. Refrain as a verb (reflexive, archaic):

    To show restraint; to hold oneself back.

  3. Refrain as a verb (transitive, now, _, rare):

    To repress (a desire, emotion etc.); to check or curb.

  4. Refrain as a verb (intransitive):

    To stop oneself some action or interference; to abstain.

  5. Refrain as a verb (transitive, now, _, rare, regional):

    To abstain from (food or drink).

  1. Refrain as a noun:

    The chorus or of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.

  2. Refrain as a noun:

    A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying.

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