fetching

[fech-ing] /ˈfɛtʃ ɪŋ/
adjective
1.
charming; captivating.
Origin
1875-80; fetch + -ing2
Related forms
fetchingly, adverb
unfetching, adjective

fetch1

[fech] /fɛtʃ/
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)
11.
to go and bring things.
12.
Chiefly Nautical. to move or maneuver.
13.
Hunting. to retrieve game (often used as a command to a dog).
14.
to go by an indirect route; circle (often followed by around or about):
We fetched around through the outer suburbs.
noun
15.
the act of fetching.
16.
the distance of fetching:
a long fetch.
17.
Oceanography.
  1. an area where ocean waves are being generated by the wind.
  2. the length of such an area.
18.
the reach or stretch of a thing.
19.
a trick; dodge.
Verb phrases
20.
fetch about, Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to come onto a new tack.
21.
fetch up,
  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.
Idioms
22.
fetch and carry, to perform menial tasks.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English fecchen, Old English fecc(e)an, variant of fetian to fetch (compare Middle English feten, fetten, British dialect fet; akin to Old English -fat in sīthfat journey, German fassen to grasp)
Related forms
fetcher, noun
Synonyms
1. See bring.
Examples from the web for fetching
  • Often fetching high prices at the supermarket, they're surprisingly easy to grow.
  • The company's site baits would-be video-chatters with photos that include a fetching blonde.
  • My cats have even performed tricks such as fetching toys and jumping on command.
  • None of these jobs is as important or as consuming as the eight hours or so she spends each day fetching water.
  • It is in the fetching and carrying manufactures, accordingly, that foreign trade is chiefly employed.
  • Real estate is booming, with two-bedroom condominiums facing the sea fetching up to a million euros.
  • Therefore it will often be fetching something you don't need.
  • We usually think of them as green, but pea aphids sometimes wear a fetching red ensemble.
  • But the real draw is the fabric overlay that transforms the usual dorky dome into a fetching hat.
  • And to show off the bendy flexibility of the material, it is also curved into a fetching drop-handlebar design.
British Dictionary definitions for fetching

fetching

/ˈfɛtʃɪŋ/
adjective (informal)
1.
attractively befitting: a fetching hat
2.
charming: a fetching personality
Derived Forms
fetchingly, adverb

fetch1

/fɛtʃ/
verb (mainly transitive)
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 intransitive) 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 intransitive) (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
11.
the reach, stretch, etc, of a mechanism
12.
a trick or stratagem
13.
the distance in the direction of the prevailing wind that air or water can travel continuously without obstruction
Word Origin
Old English feccan; related to Old Norse feta to step, Old High German sih fazzōn to climb

fetch2

/fɛtʃ/
noun
1.
the ghost or apparition of a living person
Word Origin
C18: of unknown origin
Word Origin and History for fetching
adj.

1580s, "crafty, scheming," present participle adjective from fetch. The sense of "alluring, fascinating" is by 1880.

fetch

v.

Old English feccan, apparently a variant of fetian, fatian "to fetch, bring near, obtain; induce; to marry," probably from Proto-Germanic *fatojanan (cf. Old Frisian fatia "to grasp, seize, contain," Old Norse feta "to find one's way," Middle Dutch vatten, Old High German sih faggon "to mount, climb," German fassen "to grasp, contain"). Variant form fet, a derivation of the older Old English version of the word, survived as a competitor until 17c. Related: Fetched; fetching.

n.

"apparition, specter, a double," 1787, of unknown origin (see OED for discussion).

Slang definitions & phrases for fetching

fetching

adjective

Attractive: afetching appearance (1902+)


Encyclopedia Article for fetching

fetch

area of ocean or lake surface over which the wind blows in an essentially constant direction, thus generating waves. The term also is used as a synonym for fetch length, which is the horizontal distance over which wave-generating winds blow. In an enclosed body of water, fetch is also defined as the distance between the points of minimum and maximum water-surface elevation. This line generally coincides with the longest axis in the general wind direction. Fetch is an important factor in the development of wind waves, which increase in height with increasing fetch up to a maximum of 1,600 km (1,000 miles). Wave heights do not increase with increasing fetch beyond this distance

Learn more about fetch with a free trial on Britannica.com