fetch

¹

[ fech ]

verb (used with object)

1. to go and bring back; return with; get:

   to go up a hill to fetch a pail of water.

2. to cause to come; bring:

   to fetch a doctor.

3. to sell for or bring (a price, financial return, etc.):

   The horse fetched $50 more than it cost.

4. Informal. to charm; captivate:

   Her beauty fetched the coldest hearts.

5. to take (a breath).
6. to utter (a sigh, groan, etc.).
7. to deal or deliver (a stroke, blow, etc.).
8. to perform or execute (a movement, step, leap, etc.).
9. Chiefly Nautical and British Dialect. to reach; arrive at:

   to fetch port.

10. Hunting. (of a dog) to retrieve (game).

verb (used without object)

1. to go and bring things.
2. Chiefly Nautical. to move or maneuver.
3. Hunting. to retrieve game (often used as a command to a dog).
4. to go by an indirect route; circle (often followed by around or about ):

   We fetched around through the outer suburbs.

noun

1. the act of fetching.
2. the distance of fetching:

   a long fetch.

3. Oceanography.
   1. an area where ocean waves are being generated by the wind.
   2. the length of such an area.
4. the reach or stretch of a thing.
5. a trick; dodge.

verb phrase

1. Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to come onto a new tack.
2. 1. Informal. to arrive or stop.
   2. Older Use. to raise (children); bring up:

      She had to fetch up her younger sisters.

   3. Nautical. (of a vessel) to come to a halt, as by lowering an anchor or running aground; bring up.

fetch

²

[ fech ]

noun

1. wraith ( def 1 ).

fetch

¹

/ fɛtʃ /

verb

1. to go after and bring back; get

   to fetch help

2. to cause to come; bring or draw forth

   the noise fetched him from the cellar

3. also intr to cost or sell for (a certain price)

   the table fetched six hundred pounds

4. to utter (a sigh, groan, etc)
5. informal.
   to deal (a blow, slap, etc)
6. also intr nautical to arrive at or proceed by sailing
7. informal.
   to attract

   to be fetched by an idea

8. (used esp as a command to dogs) to retrieve (shot game, an object thrown, etc)
9. rare.
   to draw in (a breath, gasp, etc), esp with difficulty
10. fetch and carry
    to perform menial tasks or run errands

noun

1. the reach, stretch, etc, of a mechanism
2. a trick or stratagem
3. the distance in the direction of the prevailing wind that air or water can travel continuously without obstruction

fetch

²

/ fɛtʃ /

noun

1. the ghost or apparition of a living person

Other Words From

• fetcher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fetch¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English fecchen, facchen, Old English fecc(e)an, fæccan “to bring back”; akin to German fassen “to grasp”

Origin of fetch²

First recorded in 1780–90; origin unknown; perhaps short for fetch-life one sent to fetch the soul of a dying person

Word History and Origins

Origin of fetch¹

Old English feccan; related to Old Norse feta to step, Old High German sih fazzōn to climb

Origin of fetch²

C18: of unknown origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. fetch and carry, to perform menial tasks.

Synonym Study

See bring.

Example Sentences

Nigeria’s crude oil is low in sulphur and, as one of the most prized in the world, fetches a higher price than many of its competitors.

From BBC

Two rare cars that had been stored in a barn for more than four decades have been sold at auction, with both fetching more than the estimated sale prices.

From BBC

“We swapped details and saw each other later that night. It was all normal,” Paiz said, adding that Payne fetched him from downstairs at the Park Hyatt Palermo after he got lost.

From Los Angeles Times

Another starting pitcher, Southland native and key trade deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty, also is on the market, where he might fetch offers beyond what the Dodgers are willing to spend.

From Los Angeles Times

The cake, initially expected to fetch £500, was sold to a bidder from China who purchased it over the phone.

From BBC

Related Words

• carry
• earn
• go for
• obtain
• produce
• retrieve
• sell
• sell for
• yield

About This Word

What else does fetch mean?

Fetch is slang for “cool” or “awesome” and is not, in fact, from England.

It started as a joke in the movie Mean Girls, only to catch on off-screen.

Where does fetch come from?

Fetch dates back to before the year 1000, when it showed up in Old English as fecc(e)an. It’s related to the German fassen which means to grasp. Back then (and now, if you’re going with the typical definition), fetch typically meant to get or return with an object.

It wasn’t until April 2004, when the movie Mean Girls was released in theaters, that fetch the slang word totally happened.

The movie about a group of high school girls launched the phrase so fetch into the lexicon, thanks to character Gretchen Weiners (played by Lacey Chabert) who spent much of the flick declaring things she liked were “so fetch.” In a now iconic scene, head mean girl Regina George (played by Rachel McAdams) snaps at Gretchen, telling her to “stop trying to make fetch happen.”

Mean Girls creator Tina Fey has said she’s sorry for adding the word to the movie, telling the Today Show, “I want to apologize to the world for fetch. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

But it looks like Gretchen got the last laugh.

So fetch has caught on, especially among fans of the cult classic. Mean Girls has since been turned into a Broadway show where so fetch is said multiple times per showing.

How is fetch used in real life?

The internet loves to call its favorite things “so fetch.” This goes double for anything that’s pink on a Wednesday—a nod to another famous Mean Girls quote.

I’m so proud of Harry for wearing pink on a wednesday he’s a true Mean Girls stan. That suit of his is so ~fetch~ pic.twitter.com/5JkkpOh7zp

— ashlee (@ashleedaniellee) April 5, 2018

When things aren’t so fetch, fans are using the hashtag #MakeFetchHappen.

The best towel hooks ever. #MakeFetchHappen pic.twitter.com/8ARxQ7fTYM

— Henry Baker (@henraldo) September 27, 2018

More examples of fetch:

“In “Mean Girls,” Gretchen Wieners didn’t make “fetch” (for the non-Plastics among you: fetch roughly equates to cool/awesome) happen, much to the satisfaction of queen bee Regina George. But a decade later, the social media age has.”
—Carla Correa, FiveThirtyEight, August 2014

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.