catch up

• catch-up

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catch up (third-person singular simple present catches up, present participle catching up, simple past and past participle caught up)

1. (transitive) To pick up suddenly.
   • 1913, Willa Cather, O Pioneers!, chapter 3:

     Oscar stopped the horses and waved to Carl, who caught up his hat and ran through the melon patch to join them.

2. (transitive) To entangle (something).

   The speaker wires have got caught up with the wires from the lights.

3. (transitive, by extension) To involve in (something).

   That's why she got caught up in addiction.

4. (intransitive) To be brought up to date with news.

   I hadn't seen her for so long. It was great to catch up.

5. (transitive) To bring (someone) up to date with the news.

   After Alice's vacation, her boss caught her up on policy changes.

   I have to miss the end of the meeting, but you can catch me up later.

6. (transitive, intransitive) To reach something that had been ahead.

   Rose was three seconds behind, but managed to catch up with the race leader and eventually won.

   I'll go ahead and you can catch up with me later.

   • 1973 March 1, Roger Waters (lyrics and music), “Time”, in The Dark Side of the Moon, performed by Pink Floyd:

     But you run / And you run to catch up with the sun / But it's sinking

8. (intransitive) To compensate for or make up a deficiency.

   Hyponym: storm

   After a slow start, they've been catching up lately.

   The sales quarter ends soon and we've got to try to catch up.

9. (intransitive, of some inevitable phenomenon, with with) To finally overtake (someone or something) after a long period of approaching (them or it).

   His years of drinking were catching up with him.

   • 2008, Bardas Benetbunk, Musings of One Thousand and One Nights of Solitude, page 61:

     You are reminded that old age is catching up with you each time you read in the newspaper that another athlete whom you idolized when you were young just passed away.

   • 2012 June 17, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Homer’s Triple Bypass” (season 4, episode 11; originally aired 12/17/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎:

     The episode begins with a lifetime of junk food, beer and no exercise catching up with Homer in the form of painful heart contractions.

catch up (countable and uncountable, plural catch ups)

1. Alternative spelling of catch-up