to catch a bronch
- idiom
- Archaic
- She missed a week of school because she caught a bronch during the winter.
Examples
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If you don't wear a scarf, you might catch a bronch in this cold weather.
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After that rainy soccer game, he caught a bronch and had to see a doctor.
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I caught a bronch last week.
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Don't catch a bronch while you're out in the cold!
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After playing in the rain, he caught a bronch and needed to stay home from work.
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Make sure to dress warmly, or you might catch a bronch during the chilly evening.
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She ended up visiting the doctor because she caught a bronch after being outside for too long.
Synonyms
To become sick with a common illness that makes your nose and throat sore
To become ill with a cold after being cold or near someone sick
To get a mild illness that feels like the flu
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
catch + a + bronch
The phrase follows the productive English pattern 'catch a + illness' (e.g., 'catch a cold'), and 'catch' already carries the meaning 'become affected by (an illness)'. If a learner knows the clipped form 'bronch' as referring to bronchitis/bronchial illness, the overall meaning 'develop bronchitis' is directly derivable from the constituents and is therefore immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
Catch a bronch may come from the same idea as 'catch a cold': you 'catch' an infection in the breathing tubes in your chest, and bronch is a short form of those tubes. That's why it means 'to develop bronchitis'.