intercept

/ˈɪntərˌsɛpt/

Other forms: intercepted; intercepting; intercepts

When you intercept a pass in football, you grab the ball that your opponent had thrown to a member of his own team. To intercept is to stop something from reaching its intended destination.

If a national intelligence agency intercepts a telephone call being sent from one terrorist cell to another, they stop the message and also learn a bit about what's going on in the terrorist world. If you're planning a surprise party for your friend and she arrives a half hour early, you might run to intercept her while everyone rushes to hide.

Definitions of intercept

1. verb

   seize on its way
   “The fighter plane was ordered to intercept an aircraft that had entered the country's airspace”

   synonyms: stop

   types:

   cut off, cut out

   cut off and stop

   type of:

   catch, grab, take hold of

   take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
2. verb

   tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information
   synonyms: bug, tap, wiretap

   type of:

   eavesdrop, listen in

   listen without the speaker's knowledge
3. noun

   the point at which a line intersects a coordinate axis
   type of:

   point

   a geometric element that has position but no extension
4. verb

   (sports) catch an opponent's pass