intercept
intercept Lexical Profile
intercept Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To obstruct, seize, or stop someone or something on its way from one place to another so as to prevent arrival at the intended destination.
"Postal inspectors managed to intercept the suspicious package before it could be delivered."
To catch or gain possession of a pass intended for an opposing player (in team sports).
"The defender leaped high to intercept the pass just outside the penalty box."
To mark off or include a portion of a line, curve, or surface between two points or lines (in mathematics).
"Two parallel lines crossing a circle will intercept equal arcs along its circumference."
• noun
The point at which a given line or curve intersects a coordinate axis on a mathematical graph.
"To sketch the linear equation accurately, first calculate both the horizontal and vertical intercepts."
An act or instance of obstructing, capturing, or stopping someone or something on its way from one place to another.
"The coast guard executed a successful intercept of the smuggling vessel before it reached territorial waters."
An intercepted communication, broadcast signal, or intelligence message.
"Analysts spent the morning decoding a series of radio intercepts gathered overnight."
• Rhymes for intercept
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Latin interceptus, the past participle of intercipere ('to catch between, cut off'), formed from inter- ('between') and capere ('to take, seize').