catch vs fire

catch

verb
  • Of fire, to spread or be conveyed to. 

  • To attract and hold (a faculty or organ of sense). 

  • To grasp mentally: perceive and understand. 

  • To unpleasantly discover unexpectedly; to unpleasantly surprise (someone doing something). 

  • To acquire, as though by infection; to take on through sympathy or infection. 

  • To make a grasping or snatching motion (at). 

  • To take or replenish something necessary, such as breath or sleep. 

  • To be held back or impeded. 

  • To get pregnant. 

  • To end a player's innings by catching a hit ball before the first bounce. 

  • To be the victim of (something unpleasant, painful etc.). 

  • To entrap or trip up a person; to deceive. 

  • To reach (someone) with a strike, blow, weapon etc. 

  • To be hit by something. 

  • To receive or be affected by (wind, water, fire etc.). 

  • To have something be held back or impeded. 

  • To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore. 

  • To travel by means of. 

  • To become infected by (an illness). 

  • To reproduce or echo a spirit or idea faithfully. 

  • To serve well or poorly for catching, especially for catching fish. 

  • To seize or intercept an object moving through the air (or, sometimes, some other medium). 

  • To grip (the water) with one's oars at the beginning of the stroke. 

  • To become pregnant. (Only in past tense or as participle.) 

  • To charm or entrance. 

  • To grip or entangle. 

  • To handle an exception. 

  • To play (a specific period of time) as the catcher. 

  • To spread by infection or similar means. 

  • To take in; to watch or listen to (an entertainment). 

  • To engage with some mechanism; to stick, to succeed in interacting with something or initiating some process. 

  • To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape). 

  • To germinate and set down roots. 

  • To be touched or affected by (something) through exposure. 

  • To overtake or catch up to; to be in time for. 

noun
  • The act of noticing, understanding or hearing. 

  • A crick; a sudden muscle pain during unaccustomed positioning when the muscle is in use. 

  • A stopping mechanism, especially a clasp which stops something from opening. 

  • The game of catching a ball. 

  • A hesitation in voice, caused by strong emotion. 

  • A find, in particular a boyfriend or girlfriend or prospective spouse. 

  • A fragment of music or poetry. 

  • The act of catching a hit ball before it reaches the ground, resulting in an out. 

  • Passing opportunities seized; snatches. 

  • The act of catching an object in motion, especially a ball. 

  • The act of seizing or capturing. 

  • A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics. 

  • A slight remembrance; a trace. 

  • A crop which has germinated and begun to grow. 

  • The first contact of an oar with the water. 

  • A concealed difficulty, especially in a deal or negotiation. 

  • A player in respect of his catching ability; particularly one who catches well. 

  • A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough. 

  • The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse. 

  • Something which is captured or caught. 

fire

verb
  • To feed or serve the fire of. 

  • To shoot a gun, cannon, or similar weapon. 

  • To initiate an event (by means of an event handler). 

  • To forcibly direct (something). 

  • To shoot (a gun, rocket/missile, or analogous device). 

  • To drive away by setting a fire. 

  • To animate; to give life or spirit to. 

  • To shoot; to attempt to score a goal. 

  • To set (something, often a building) on fire. 

  • To set off an explosive in a mine. 

  • To light up as if by fire; to illuminate. 

  • To operate a rocket engine to produce thrust. 

  • To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct or poor performance). 

  • To terminate a contract with a client; to drop a client. 

  • To inflame; to irritate, as the passions. 

  • To heat as with fire, but without setting on fire, as ceramic, metal objects, etc. 

  • To cause an action potential in a cell. 

  • To cauterize. 

noun
  • A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire). 

  • The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun or other ranged weapon. 

  • Splendour; brilliancy; lustre; hence, a star. 

  • The elements necessary to start a fire. 

  • Strength of passion, whether love or hate. 

  • Red coloration in a piece of opal. 

  • The occurrence, often accidental, of fire in a certain place, causing damage and danger. 

  • A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering. 

  • Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm. 

  • An instance of this chemical reaction, especially when intentionally created and maintained in a specific location to a useful end (such as a campfire or a hearth fire). 

  • A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such. 

  • A severe trial; anything inflaming or provoking. 

  • An instance of firing one or more rocket engines. 

  • The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy. 

adj
  • Amazing; excellent. 

How often have the words catch and fire occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )