ketch
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ketch
1475–85; earlier cache, apparently noun use of cache to catch
Compare meaning
How does ketch compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A ketch is a sturdy, strong sailboat that has two masts and usually weighs over 100 tons. A ketch is a good sailboat to cruise around on if you’re experienced enough to handle a big boat (or if you know someone who is). It's more common to sail a ketch in Europe than in the United States, where sailors tend to prefer the schooner. The two boats are similar in size and have two masts, but a ketch has a smaller sail in back. Fans of the ketch describe it as extremely balanced, while critics say a ketch loses power too easily because of that small rear sail. The word was originally spelled "catch," from the Middle English cacchen, for “to capture, chase.”
Vocabulary lists containing ketch
Red Kayak
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The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (Volume 2)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One was a former merchant marine whose wooden 32-foot ketch was barely adequate for a journey through the punishing Southern Ocean.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
It was taken by crew members on a ketch that sailed near the island of Java in the summer of 2019.
From Scientific American • Jul. 20, 2022
Aubrey, Greg and toddler Rue Whittier have lived on the Tenalach, a 45-foot ketch sailboat since 2016.
From Washington Post • Aug. 14, 2019
Thornton has entered his 104-foot ketch Whitehawk in the cruising division of the 111th edition of the world’s oldest annual freshwater distance race.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 11, 2019
On the second day of May, as she came out on Wethersfield landing, a trim little ketch was already tied up, fresh-painted, with clean white canvas and not a barnacle on its hull.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
