To Catch
To Grab
transitive verb, ichidan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means catch, so the verb vocab version means to catch or to grab.
捕まえる generally refers to the act of physically catching a person, animal, or object. By extension, you can also use it for things like grabbing a server's attention in a busy restaurant, tracking down an employee in a massive store to ask a question, or even catching a passing taxi on the street. Basically, if it takes effort to catch, 捕まえる works!
Like most verbs, this word uses the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with the kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you out:
When police want to catch a criminal, they often take two cars (つか). By using two cars, cops can come at a suspect from multiple directions and block their escape routes, making them much easier to catch.
犯人を捕まえる
to catch the culprit
人を捕まえる
to catch a person
魚を捕まえる
to catch a fish
タクシーを捕まえる
to hail a taxi
兄はタクシーを捕まえるのが上手い。
My big brother is good at hailing taxis.
警察はようやく犯人を捕まえた。
The police finally caught the criminal.
子どもが虫を捕まえてきた。
The child caught a bug and came back with it.
彼女は、チャンスをのがさず捕まえたんです。
She seized the opportunity without missing it.
『ポケモン』は、モンスターボールで色んなポケモンを捕まえ、その捕まえたポケモンを戦わせて育てて強くしていくゲームです。
"Pokemon" is a game in which players catch various Pokemon using Pokeballs and make the captured Pokemon fight, grow, and become stronger.