cap·ture (k?p?ch?r)tr.v. cap·tured, cap·tur·ing, cap·tures 1. a. To take captive, as by force or craft; seize.b. To gain possession or control of, as in a game or contest: capture the queen in chess; captured the liberal vote.2. a. To attract and hold: tales of adventure that capture the imagination.b. Astronomy To attract and pull (a celestial body) into orbit by gravitation.3. To succeed in preserving in lasting form: capture a likeness in a painting.n.1. The act of catching, taking, or winning, as by force or skill.2. One that has been seized, caught, or won; a catch or prize.3. Astronomy The process by which a massive body, such as a star or planet, draws and holds another body in gravitational orbit.4. Physics The phenomenon in which an atom or a nucleus absorbs a subatomic particle, often with the subsequent emission of radiation.[From French, capture, from Old French, from Latin capt?ra, a catching of animals, from captus, past participle of capere, to seize; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.capture (?kæpt??) vb (tr) 1. to take prisoner or gain control over: to capture an enemy; to capture a town. 2. (Games, other than specified) (in a game or contest) to win control or possession of: to capture a pawn in chess. 3. to succeed in representing or describing (something elusive): the artist captured her likeness. 4. (General Physics) physics (of an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus) to acquire (an additional particle)5. (Computer Science) to insert or transfer (data) into a computern6. the act of taking by force; seizure7. the person or thing captured; booty8. (General Physics) physics a process by which an atom, molecule, ion, or nucleus acquires an additional particle9. (Physical Geography) geography Also called: piracy the process by which the headwaters of one river are diverted into another through erosion caused by the second river’s tributaries10. (Computer Science) the act or process of inserting or transferring data into a computer[C16: from Latin capt?ra a catching, that which is caught, from capere to take] ?capturer nCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014cap?ture (?kæp t??r) v. -tured, -tur?ing, n. v.t. 1. to take by force or stratagem; take prisoner; seize; apprehend. 2. to gain control of or exert influence over: to capture someone’s attention. 3. to take possession of, as in a game or contest. 4. to represent or record in lasting form: a movie that captures Berlin in the 1930s. 5. a. to enter (data) into a computer for processing or storage. b. to record (data) in preparation for such entry. n. 6. the act of capturing; seizure. 7. the person or thing captured. 8. the process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle. [1535?45;