INTERCEPT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does intercept mean? 

• INTERCEPT (noun)
  The noun INTERCEPT has 1 sense:

1. the point at which a line intersects a coordinate axis

  Familiarity information: INTERCEPT used as a noun is very rare.

• INTERCEPT (verb)
  The verb INTERCEPT has 2 senses:

1. seize on its way

2. tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information

  Familiarity information: INTERCEPT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTERCEPT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The point at which a line intersects a coordinate axis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("intercept" is a kind of...):

point (a geometric element that has position but no extension)

• INTERCEPT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they intercept    ... he / she / it intercepts   
Past simple: intercepted   
Past participle: intercepted   
-ing form: intercepting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Seize on its way

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

intercept; stop

Context example:

The fighter plane was ordered to intercept an aircraft that had entered the country's airspace

Hypernyms (to "intercept" is one way to...):

catch; grab; take hold of (take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "intercept"):

cut off; cut out (cut off and stop)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

interception (the act of intercepting; preventing something from proceeding or arriving)

interceptor (a fast maneuverable fighter plane designed to intercept enemy aircraft)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

bug; intercept; tap; wiretap

Context example:

Is this hotel room bugged?

Hypernyms (to "intercept" is one way to...):

eavesdrop; listen in (listen without the speaker's knowledge)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

If she has written any letters they have been intercepted.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He zealously undertook to do so, and to intercept any newspaper through which it might, without such precautions, reach him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Orthodontic treatment designed to take advantage of the active growth stage of a child's development in order to intercept orthodontic problems early and reduce or eliminate them.

(Interceptive Treatment, NCI Thesaurus)

Warm tears filled my eyes, which I hastily wiped away, that they might not intercept the view I had of the dæmon; but still my sight was dimmed by the burning drops, until, giving way to the emotions that oppressed me, I wept aloud.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It is now expedient to give some description of Mrs. Allen, that the reader may be able to judge in what manner her actions will hereafter tend to promote the general distress of the work, and how she will, probably, contribute to reduce poor Catherine to all the desperate wretchedness of which a last volume is capable—whether by her imprudence, vulgarity, or jealousy—whether by intercepting her letters, ruining her character, or turning her out of doors.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The only change noticeable in our boats was that they had hauled close on the wind and were heading several points west of north. Still, I could not see the expediency of the manœuvre, for the free sea was still intercepted by the Macedonia’s five weather boats, which, in turn, had hauled close on the wind.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Just at the door the captain aimed at the fugitive one last tremendous cut, which would certainly have split him to the chine had it not been intercepted by our big signboard of Admiral Benbow.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Whatever cross-accidents had occurred to intercept the pleasures of her nieces, she had found a morning of complete enjoyment; for the housekeeper, after a great many courtesies on the subject of pheasants, had taken her to the dairy, told her all about their cows, and given her the receipt for a famous cream cheese; and since Julia's leaving them they had been met by the gardener, with whom she had made a most satisfactory acquaintance, for she had set him right as to his grandson's illness, convinced him that it was an ague, and promised him a charm for it; and he, in return, had shewn her all his choicest nursery of plants, and actually presented her with a very curious specimen of heath.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

In an instant, with a tiger-spring, the dying man had intercepted me.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I know not whether the fiend possessed the same advantages, but I found that, as before I had daily lost ground in the pursuit, I now gained on him, so much so that when I first saw the ocean he was but one day’s journey in advance, and I hoped to intercept him before he should reach the beach.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)