fetch

[ fech ]

/ fɛtʃ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR fetch ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to go and bring back; return with; get: to go up a hill to fetch a pail of water.

to cause to come; bring: to fetch a doctor.

to sell for or bring (a price, financial return, etc.): The horse fetched $50 more than it cost.

Informal. to charm; captivate: Her beauty fetched the coldest hearts.

to take (a breath).

to utter (a sigh, groan, etc.).

to deal or deliver (a stroke, blow, etc.).

to perform or execute (a movement, step, leap, etc.).

Chiefly Nautical and British Dialect. to reach; arrive at: to fetch port.

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

verb (used without object)

to go and bring things.

Chiefly Nautical. to move or maneuver.

Hunting. to retrieve game (often used as a command to a dog).

to go by an indirect route; circle (often followed by around or about): We fetched around through the outer suburbs.

noun

the act of fetching.

the distance of fetching: a long fetch.

Oceanography.

an area where ocean waves are being generated by the wind.
the length of such an area.

the reach or stretch of a thing.

a trick; dodge.

Verb Phrases

fetch about, Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to come onto a new tack.

fetch up,

Informal. to arrive or stop.
Older Use. to raise (children); bring up: She had to fetch up her younger sisters.
Nautical. (of a vessel) to come to a halt, as by lowering an anchor or running aground; bring up.

Idioms for fetch

fetch and carry, to perform menial tasks.

Origin of fetch

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)

synonym study for fetch

1. See bring.

OTHER WORDS FROM fetch

fetch·er, noun

Words nearby fetch

fetal position, fetal souffle, fetal tissue transplant, fetal warfarin syndrome, fetation, fetch, fetch and carry, fetch up, fetched, fetcher, fetching

Definition for fetch (2 of 2)

fetch ²

[ fech ]

/ fɛtʃ /

noun

wraith(def 1).

Origin of fetch

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

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.

Example sentences from the Web for fetch

The same bodyguard, apparently bearing croissants, returns to fetch the never-married philandering leader the next morning.

Hollande's Jilted Lover Valerie Trierweiler Tells All |Tracy McNicoll |September 3, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Rhino horn is particularly lucrative—each kilogram can fetch up to $66,000.

South Africa’s Great Rhino Airlift |Nina Strochlic |August 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
She has a t-shirt that says “Fetch,” the catchphrase from Mean Girls!

Lindsay Lohan’s Reality Show Is the Most Stressful Thing on TV |Kevin Fallon |March 10, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
A frightened maid came out in haste and ran away to fetch some remedy.

Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show |Robert W. Chambers |February 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

The Killer ordered the deputies to fetch his tow-truck man, David Camp, campaign manager to James Albert Riley.

The Strange and Mysterious Death of Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis |Richard Ben Cramer |January 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
To-morrow morning we will come back to fetch the chariot: now, forward, march!

Captain Fracasse |Theophile Gautier
Fetch me then three kinds of water, the Life-giving, the Curing, and the Strengthening.

Fairy Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen |Alexander Chodsko
The cloud of blessing floats over our heads, but we fail to stretch forth the electric rod of prayer to fetch it down!

The Hart and the Water-Brooks; |John R. Macduff
Hilda the Sunbeam was not despised because she climbed the mountainside to fetch milk and butter for the family.

Erling the Bold |R.M. Ballantyne
Of course I at once sent for old Dr. Macnab, and asked him to fetch a certificate for an insane person with him.

Scotch Wit and Humor |W. H. (Walter Henry) Howe

British Dictionary definitions for fetch (1 of 2)

fetch ¹

/ (fɛtʃ) /

verb (mainly tr)

to go after and bring back; get to fetch help

to cause to come; bring or draw forth the noise fetched him from the cellar

(also intr) to cost or sell for (a certain price) the table fetched six hundred pounds

to utter (a sigh, groan, etc)

informal to deal (a blow, slap, etc)

(also intr) nautical to arrive at or proceed by sailing

informal to attract to be fetched by an idea

(used esp as a command to dogs) to retrieve (shot game, an object thrown, etc)

rare to draw in (a breath, gasp, etc), esp with difficulty

fetch and carry to perform menial tasks or run errands

noun

the reach, stretch, etc, of a mechanism

a trick or stratagem

the distance in the direction of the prevailing wind that air or water can travel continuously without obstruction

Word Origin for fetch

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

British Dictionary definitions for fetch (2 of 2)

fetch ²

/ (fɛtʃ) /

noun

the ghost or apparition of a living person

Word Origin for fetch

C18: of unknown origin

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

fetch

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Verb Phrases

Idioms for fetch

Origin of fetch

synonym study for fetch

OTHER WORDS FROM fetch

Words nearby fetch

Definition for fetch (2 of 2)

noun

Origin of fetch

ABOUT THIS WORD

What else does fetch mean?

Where does fetch come from?

How is fetch used in real life?

Note

Example sentences from the Web for fetch

British Dictionary definitions for fetch (1 of 2)

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for fetch

British Dictionary definitions for fetch (2 of 2)

noun

Word Origin for fetch

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

fetch

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Verb Phrases

Idioms for fetch

Origin of fetch

synonym study for fetch

OTHER WORDS FROM fetch

Words nearby fetch

Definition for fetch (2 of 2)

noun

Origin of fetch

ABOUT THIS WORD

What else does fetch mean?

Where does fetch come from?

How is fetch used in real life?

Note

Words related to fetch

Example sentences from the Web for fetch

British Dictionary definitions for fetch (1 of 2)

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for fetch

British Dictionary definitions for fetch (2 of 2)

noun

Word Origin for fetch