Word.ws English Dictionary

catchpole

UK/ˈkatʃpəʊl/

catchpole noun: a taxman, one who gathers taxes.

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

Proper noun capitalized: Catchpole

Catchpole (plural Catchpoles)

  1. A surname from Anglo-Norman.

Synonyms of catchpole

Forms of catchpole

Noun
pluralcatchpoles
alternative formcatchpoll
alternative formcatch-pole
Proper noun
pluralCatchpoles

Origin of catchpole

From Old French chacepol (“one who chases fowls”) (or a northern variant thereof).

From catch + pole.

From Anglo-Norman cachepole, a compound of cachier (“to catch”) + pol (“fowl”), a nickname given to a bailiff, originally empowered to seize poultry and other livestock in case of default on debts or taxes.

Questions about catchpole

What does catchpole mean?
Catchpole means a taxman, one who gathers taxes.
What part of speech is catchpole?
Catchpole can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce catchpole?
Catchpole is pronounced /ˈkatʃpəʊl/ (UK).
What is the plural of catchpole?
The plural of catchpole is catchpoles.

Words near catchpole in the dictionary

  1. catchpit
  2. catchpits
  3. catchplate
  4. catchplates
  5. catchpoints
  6. catchpole
  7. catchpoles
  8. catchpoll
  9. catchpolls
  10. catchrope
  11. catchropes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catchpole (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: “catchpole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catchpole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.