捉 means “grasp, capture”

とらえる · toraeru

Also: catch

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

とらえる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ソク, サク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

A hand (扌) closing on a foot (足): catching something before it can run. Where 捕らえる catches a thief, 捉える grasps what slips away: the heart of an issue, or the moment a camera caught. On radar, 捕捉 is locking on.

Used in 捉える (toraeru, to grasp/capture) and 捕捉 (hosoku, capture/detection)

More from Arms & the Hunt

• 斬 slash
• 餌 bait
• 弾 bullet
• 射 shoot
• 獲 catch
• 銃 gun
• 甲 armor
• 網 net
• 砲 cannon
• 矢 arrow
• 剣 sword
• 盾 shield

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.