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catch-up
[ kach-uhp ]
noun
- an effort to reach or pass a norm, especially after a period of delay:
After the slowdown there was a catch-up in production.
- an effort to catch up with or surpass a competitor, as in a sports contest.
- an instance of catching up.
adjective
- intended to keep up with or surpass a norm or competitor:
a catch-up pay raise to offset inflation.
catch up
verb
- tr to seize and take up (something) quickly
- whenintr, often foll by with to reach or pass (someone or something), after following
he soon caught him up
- intr; usually foll by on or with to make up for lost ground or deal with a backlog (in some specified task or activity)
- tr; often passive to absorb or involve
she was caught up in her reading
- tr to raise by or as if by fastening
the hem of her dress was caught up with ribbons
Word History and Origins
Origin of catch-up1
Idioms and Phrases
- play catch-up, Informal. to make a special effort to overcome a late start, a liability, or the advantage a competitor has:
After Russia launched the first space satellite, other countries had to play catch-up.
Example Sentences
That means “catch-up” vaccination campaigns can be “very, very powerful” if an unvaccinated community gets hit hard with measles, says Mina.
And I'll admit: Sometimes I feel like I'm the one playing catch-up.
That’s a key part of the problem with “The Amateur,” in which it always feels like we’re ahead of the story, instead of playing catch-up and trying to figure out a mystery.
In the UK, the show has been attracting about 1.5 million viewers per episode, including catch-up.
Maybe his catch-up session with Frank left him too dazed to remember the need for a very basic Plan 101 conversation?
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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