fetched

IPA/fetʃ/
KK[fˈɛtʃt]IPA/fetʃ/

fetched — verb

  • fetchedpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • fetcheds3rd person singular
  • fetcheding-ing form
  • fetchededpast simple

1. went somewhere else to get a thing or a person and then carried, led, or brought

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

went somewhere else to get a thing or a person and then carried, led, or brought them back to where you started.

Example

Andrew fetched a bucket of water from the well behind the farmhouse.

fetch + concrete object + from + source location

The retriever fetched the wet tennis ball and dropped it at Talia's feet.

fetch + object + and + return action

Common collocations
  • fetch water
  • fetch help
  • fetch the kids
  • go and fetch
  • fetch from
Synonyms
  • bring

    no return-trip implication; movement is one-way toward the speaker.

  • collect

    more neutral about who initiated the trip; common in British English for picking someone up.

  • retrieve

    formal or technical; emphasises getting back something lost or stored away.

Antonyms
  • deliver

    movement is outward to a recipient, not a round trip back to the starter.

  • leave

    deliberately not bringing the item back.

Grammar Patterns

fetch + object

fetch + indirect object + direct object

Usage Note

Subject is usually a person or trained animal making a round trip — go to a place, collect, return. If nobody goes anywhere, use 'bring' or 'get' instead.

Common Mistakes

Please fetch the milk from the supermarket on your way home.
Please pick up the milk from the supermarket on your way home.
'fetch' implies a dedicated trip whose only purpose is to collect; 'pick up' fits an errand done along the way.
The waiter fetched our drinks to the table.
The waiter brought our drinks to the table.
when no return trip is involved (the waiter doesn't leave the restaurant), use 'bring'.

2. when sold — especially at auction or in a market — brought in a particular sum o

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

when sold — especially at auction or in a market — brought in a particular sum of money as the final paid price.

Example

The antique vase fetched over three thousand pounds at the Edinburgh auction last weekend.

fetch + monetary amount at auction (commonest frame)

Defne was shocked that her old bicycle fetched almost two hundred euros online.

fetch + price (informal resale context)

Common collocations
  • fetch a high price
  • fetch a record sum
  • fetch a fortune
  • fetch at auction
Synonyms
  • command

    stresses the seller's market power to set a high price; usually with 'high price'.

  • go for

    informal; works for any sale, not only auctions.

  • realize

    formal financial term; the actual cash returned after sale.

Grammar Patterns

fetch + amount of money

fetch + a price at auction

Usage Note

Subject is the goods being sold, not the seller. Object is always a sum of money or a price descriptor. Frequently passive in news writing: 'a record was fetched'. Distinguish from sense 1: nobody is physically going anywhere — the verb purely reports what price was paid.

Common Mistakes

The seller fetched a high price for the painting.
The painting fetched a high price for the seller.
the goods are the grammatical subject; the seller goes in a 'for' phrase if mentioned at all.

3. delivered a sudden blow to someone using your open hand or fist — old-fashioned

3.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

delivered a sudden blow to someone using your open hand or fist — old-fashioned spoken usage now mostly limited to fixed expressions.

Example

The angry farmer fetched the boy a sharp slap across the back of the head.

fetch + person + a + blow (classic fixed frame)

Quinn fetched his cousin a playful punch on the arm and laughed loudly.

fetch + person + a + punch (light-hearted use)

Common collocations
  • fetch someone a slap
  • fetch a punch
  • fetch a kick
  • fetch a clip round the ear
Synonyms
  • deliver

    more formal; standard verb for landing a blow without dated overtones.

  • land

    informal; emphasises the blow connecting successfully.

  • deal

    literary; 'deal a blow' is the closest neutral-register parallel.

Antonyms
  • dodge

    avoiding rather than delivering a blow.

Grammar Patterns

fetch + somebody + a blow / a slap

Usage Note

Old-fashioned spoken British usage. Almost always 'fetch + person + a + blow noun' (slap, punch, kick, clip). Distinguish from sense 1 (fetching an object) — the indirect-object pattern looks similar, but here the 'object' is always a violent action noun.

Common Mistakes

She fetched a hit at him.
She fetched him a hit.
the person receiving the blow is the indirect object; the blow noun comes second with the article 'a'.

fetched — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Fetch' uniquely implies a complete round trip: you leave, you collect, you return. 'Bring' only describes the inward leg — the person is already on the way and just arrives with something. 'Get' is the most neutral and frequent everyday verb; it can replace 'fetch' in almost any context but loses the round-trip emphasis ('I'll get the keys' may mean from the next room, not a dedicated trip). 'Collect' is the natural British choice when picking someone up at a station or a child from school, and feels slightly more planned and adult than 'fetch'. 'Retrieve' is formal or technical and is preferred when the object has been lost, stored away, or hidden — a retriever dog retrieves a fallen bird; you retrieve a deleted email. In quick speech with family or about a pet, 'fetch' still wins; in office or service contexts, native speakers reach for 'get', 'bring', or 'collect' instead.

fetch ↗bring ↗get ↗collect ↗retrieve ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • go and fetch
  • fetch and carry
  • fetch a price
  • be worth fetching

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

From Old English 'feccan' or 'fetian', meaning to bring near, to take, or to summon — closely related to the Old English verb 'fatian' (to grasp, to take hold of). The same Germanic root gave Dutch 'vatten' and German 'fassen' ('to seize, to grasp'). The price-related sense ('the painting fetched £100') developed much later, in the 16th-17th century, as a metaphorical extension: the goods 'bring back' a sum of money to the seller. The striking sense ('fetch a slap') is also a metaphorical extension of the basic 'bring forth' meaning — you bring forth a blow — and is now mostly dialectal British.