Catchers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals or tools that capture or seize something for a purpose, such as in a game or activity
2. people who intercept or take possession of a thrown object
3. appliances or devices specifically designed to trap or collect items or substances

Etymology: The plural of "catcher," a noun for a device built to trap or collect things, is a plain formation: the English noun "catcher" is "catch" with the agent suffix "-er," and that ending is the same one found in "baker" or "writer." The verb "catch" itself has a more tangled past. It passed from Latin "captare," meaning "to seize," through Vulgar Latin "captiāre" and Old French "chacier" (to chase or hunt), and reached Middle English as "cacchen." The Latin root behind it is "capere," to take or grasp, which also gave English "capture" and "capacity." The suffix's journey is equally traceable. It descends from Latin "-ārius," which Old French turned into "-ier" and Middle English into "-er," while Old English already had its own "-ere" ending that merged with it. So a device that catches things is, in its grammar, a worker who does the catching, which is why the word works as naturally for a baseball player's gear as for a mousetrap.

Synonyms: receivers, grabbers, snatchers