I.to take down, καθείλομεν ἱστία we lowered sail, Od.; κ. ἄχθος to take a load down, i. e. off one's shoulders, Ar.:—Mid., καταιρεῖσθαι τὰ τόξα to take down one's bow, Hdt.
2.to put down or close the eyes of the dead, Hom.
II.to put down by force, destroy, Od., Trag.: simply to kill, slay, Eur.
2.in a milder sense, to put down, reduce, Hdt., Dem., etc.: to depose, dethrone, Hdt.; κ. τὸ λῃστικόν to remove it utterly, Thuc.
5.as attic law-term, to condemn, Soph.
6.to reduce in flesh, Plut.
III.to overpower, seize, κὰδ δέ μιν ὕπνος ᾕρει (in tmesi) Od.; καθ. τινὰ ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ to catch in the act of folly, Soph.: c. gen. partis, κ. τῶν ὤτων to seize by the ears, Theocr.
IV.to fetch down as a reward or prize, καθαιρεῖν ἀγῶνα or ἀγώνισμα Plut.: metaph. to achieve, Pind.; so in Mid., φόνῳ καθαιρεῖσθ᾽, οὐ λόγῳ, τὰ πράγματα Eur.; in Pass., Hdt.
V.more rarely like the simple αἱρέω, to take and carry off, seize, id=Hdt.
