Word.ws English Dictionary

catch-pole

catch-pole is the alternative form of catchpole.

Meaning of catchpole

Noun (1)

catchpole (plural catchpoles)

  1. (obsolete) A taxman, one who gathers taxes.
    • With two such catchpoles as Henry and Uncle Fred at his heels there was nothing left for Grandpa Piper but to sign his abdication to the drapery business.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 247
  2. A sheriff’s officer, usually one who arrests debtors.

Noun (2)

catchpole (plural catchpoles)

  1. (historical) An implement formerly used for seizing and securing a person who would otherwise be out of reach.
    • The use of the catch-pole is said to have been to take horsemen in battle by the neck and drag them from their horses.1843, Henry Shaw, Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages, W Pickering
    Synonyms:
    man catcher

See all 4 meanings of catchpole

Forms of catch-pole

pluralcatch-poles

Questions about catch-pole

What is catch-pole the alternative form of?
Catch-pole is the alternative form of catchpole.

Words near catch-pole in the dictionary

  1. catch-dog
  2. catch-meadow
  3. catch-meadows
  4. catch-phrase
  5. catch-phrases
  6. catch-pole
  7. catch-poles
  8. catch-rope
  9. catch-ropes
  10. catch-up
  11. catch-up effect

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catch-pole (page history and authors); catchpole (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “catch-pole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catch-pole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.