intercept

 

verb

Pronunciation: /ˌɪntəˈsɛpt/
[with object]
  • obstruct (someone or something) so as to prevent them from continuing to a destination: intelligence agencies intercepted a series of telephone calls I intercepted Edward on his way to work
  • chiefly Physics cut off or deflect (light or other electromagnetic radiation): a second prism can be swung in to intercept the light beam
  • Mathematics (of a line or surface) mark or cut off (part of a space, line, or surface).

noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɪntəsɛpt/
  • an act or instance of intercepting something: he read the file of radio intercepts
  • Mathematics the point at which a given line cuts a coordinate axis; the value of the coordinate at that point.

Derivatives

interception

Pronunciation: /-ˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/
noun

interceptive

Pronunciation: /-ˈsɛptɪv/
adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (in the senses 'contain between limits' and 'halt (an effect')): from Latin intercept- 'caught between', from the verb intercipere, from inter- 'between' + capere 'take'