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- DictionaryCatch-22/kætʃtwentiˈtuː/
noun
- 1. a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions: "a catch-22 situation"
The meaning of CATCH-22 is a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule; also : the circumstance or rule that denies a solution.
Catch-22 is an organizational assumption, an unwritten law of informal power that exempts the organization from responsibility and accountability, and puts the individual in the absurd position of being excepted for the convenience or unknown purposes of the organization.
Catch-22 definition: a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory regulations or conditions.. See examples of CATCH-22 used in a sentence.
a difficult situation in which the solution to a problem is impossible because it is also the cause of the problem: But it is a catch-22 situation - you can't get people without funding, but you can't get funding without the people there in the first place.
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Catch 22'? ‘Catch-22’ is a paradox in which the attempt to escape makes escape impossible. What's the origin of the phrase 'Catch 22'? The title of Joseph Heller’s novel, written in 1953 and published in 1961, (properly titled ‘Catch-22’ – with a hyphen).
May 18, 2019 · “Catch-22,” on Hulu, based on Joseph Heller’s novel, stars Christopher Abbott as John Yossarian, a U.S. Army bombardier whose serial failures to escape the Second World War exemplify the madness of combat, military bureaucracy, and everything else.
a comic but serious US novel (1961) about the madness of war. It was written by Joseph Heller (1923-1999), and a film version was made in 1970. The story is about a US Air Force pilot during World War II. He hates the war and tries to avoid having to fly planes.
an impossible situation: you cannot do one thing until you have done another thing, but you cannot do the other thing until you have done the first thing: a Catch-22 situation.
The term comes from the title of a novel (1961) by Joseph Heller, in which the main character feigns madness in order to avoid dangerous combat missions, but finds that Catch-22 specifies that a concern for one's own safety amid real and immediate dangers is taken to indicate a rational mind.
In the book, Catch-22 is a military rule typifying bureaucratic operation and reasoning. The rule is not stated in a precise form, but the principal example in the book fits the definition above: If one is crazy, one does not have to fly missions; and one must be crazy to fly.
