catear
Spanish, verb/kateˈaɾ/
catear is spelled C-A-T-E-A-R (6 letters) and appears about once in every 21 million words in written Spanish, the 167,210th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Catear is a Spanish verb meaning “to search, prospect (for minerals or petroleum)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Observar algo o a alguien buscando una oportunidad”.
What does catear mean in English?
verb
- 1
to search, prospect (for minerals or petroleum)
- 2
to frisk
- 3
to fail, flunk
- 4
Mexicoto raid
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Observar algo o a alguien buscando una oportunidad. 2. Revisar la policía a una persona o allanar una morada. 3. Recorrer los cerros y campos buscando una veta de mineral.
verb: 1. Reprobar a un alumno en sus exámenes.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of catear
- cateo first-person present singular
- cateé first-person preterite singular
- cateado participle past
- cateando gerund
- cateada feminine participle past
- cateados masculine participle past
- cateadas feminine participle past
- cateas indicative informal present
- cateás indicative informal present
- catea indicative present singular
- cateamos first-person indicative plural
- cateáis indicative plural present
- catean indicative plural present
- cateaba first-person imperfect indicative
- cateabas imperfect indicative second-person
- cateábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- cateabais imperfect indicative plural
- cateaban imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce catear?
- /kateˈaɾ/
- [ka.t̪eˈaɾ]
- [kat̪eˈaɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to catear
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is catear in Spanish?
catear appears about once in every 21 million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).