Question 27605
INTERCEPT HAS THE USUAL MEANING AS IN NORMAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE.HOWEVER IN MATHS IT IS APPLIED SUITING TO THE CONTEXT.
1.IF A GIVEN  LINE OR CURVE CUTS THE X AXIS AT A AND Y AXIS AT B..SAY..THEN IF  THE ORIGIN OF REFERENCE IS O ,WE CALL 
A)OA IS THE INTERCEPT ON X AXIS OR X INTERCEPT IN SHORT.IT IS THE DISTANCE FROM  O TO A.
B)SIMILARLY,OB IS THE INTERCEPT ON Y AXIS OR Y INTERCEPT IN SHORT.IT IS THE DISTANCE FROM O TO B.
C)AB CAN ALSO BE CALLED AS INTERCEPT OF THE LINE BETWEEN THE 2 AXES.
2.SIMILARLY IF A CURVE CUTS A LINE AT 2 POINTS SAY AT A AND B , THEN AB IS CALLED THE INTERCEPT OF THE LINE ON THE CURVE.
3.SIMILAR DEFINITION CAN BE EXTENDED TO OTHER CASES.
  BUT IN PRE ALGEBRA ,AS IS THE REQUIREMENT MENTIONED BY YOU ,WHAT MATTERS MOST IS A LINE CUTTING THE AXES AS MENTIONED IN 1A AND 1B.