Meaning of catch and release | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A variety of angling where the fish are released after capture, as a conservation measure.
   uncountable
2. The immigration policy of releasing illegal immigrants while they await a hearing, rather than detaining them.
   uncountable
3. The practice of a patent holding company buying a patent, offering a license to its members, and then selling or donating the patent after a certain period.
   uncountable
4. The practice by police of apprehending someone but then letting them go without making an arrest.
   uncountable
5. The practice of replacing artifacts in their original location after examining and cataloguing them.
   uncountable

Examples

“"That's an order. And I want you to personally go into that clubhouse over there and arrest somebody." "For what?" "Something illegal, preferably. But anything will do. Catch and release is fine. Just . . . go catch. […]”

“"While it's catch-and-release for domestic terrorists in antifa and BLM, the people who breached the Capitol on January 6 are being abused. Some even being held for 23-hours-a-day ^([sic]) in solitary confinement," [Majorie Taylor] Greene said in May 2021.”

CEFR level