“catch” in Arabic dialects
verb
How do you say catch across the major spoken Arabic dialects? Compare catch (verb) sense by sense across 5 dialects — Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Iraqi, Maghrebi — with English meaning, native script, transliteration and usage.
What does “catch” mean?
verb
- Discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state“She caught her son eating candy”
- Perceive with the senses quickly, suddenly, or momentarily“I caught the aroma of coffee”
- Reach with a blow or hit in a particular spot“the rock caught her in the back of the head”
English definitions from Princeton WordNet.
Quick comparison across dialects
| Dialect | Arabic (catch) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Arabic | يمسك | yimsik |
| Levantine Arabic | مسك | masak |
| Gulf Arabic | مسك | misak |
| Iraqi Arabic | يلزم | yilzam |
| Maghrebi Arabic | شدّ | shedd |
Full breakdown by dialect
Egyptian Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| يمسك | yimsik | to catch an object, to hold |
| يلحق | yilḥaʾ | to catch transportation (bus, train) |
| يقبض على | yiʾbuḍ ʿala | to catch a criminal, to arrest |
| ياخد | yākhud | to catch a cold (lit. take a cold) |
Levantine Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| مسك | masak | to catch, to grab, to hold |
| لقط | laqaṭ | to catch something thrown, catch a cold |
| لحّق | laḥḥaʾ | to catch a bus, train, etc. |
Gulf Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| مسك | misak | to grab or capture |
| لقف | lagaf | to catch a thrown object |
| لحّق على | laḥḥag ʿala | to catch transportation (bus, train) |
| صاده | ṣādah | to catch an illness (e.g. a cold) |
Iraqi Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| يلزم | yilzam | to catch, grab, or seize |
| يكمش | yikmish | to catch, to get a hold of |
| ينعدي | yinʿidi | to catch an illness |
Maghrebi Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| شدّ | shedd | to catch, grab, or hold |
| قبض على | qbeḍ ʿlā | to catch or apprehend a person |
Need a custom bilingual dictionary built?
We build sense-tagged dictionaries and word lists across languages and dialects for publishers, app makers and localization teams — to your spec, in CSV, XLSX or print-ready formats.