Howcatchem
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mystery novel or drama which begins by showing or describing the commission of the crime, generally revealing the perpetrator's identity to the audience, then shows or describes how the detective proves the perpetrator's guilt.
"Columbo was not so much a whodunit as it was a "howcatchem" — the fun was in watching Columbo corner the murderer, and we never tired of the game."
Example
More examples"Columbo was not so much a whodunit as it was a "howcatchem" — the fun was in watching Columbo corner the murderer, and we never tired of the game."
Etymology
From how + catch + 'em, modelled on whodunit.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.