Jump To:

• catch-up
  catch-up

  noun

  an effort to reach or pass a norm, especially after a period of delay.
• catch up
  catch up

  verb

  (tr) to seize and take up (something) quickly

catch-up

American  

[kach-uhp] / ˈkætʃˌʌp /

noun

1. an effort to reach or pass a norm, especially after a period of delay.

   After the slowdown there was a catch-up in production.

2. an effort to catch up with or surpass a competitor, as in a sports contest.

3. an instance of catching up.

---

adjective

1. intended to keep up with or surpass a norm or competitor.

   a catch-up pay raise to offset inflation.

idioms

1. play catch-up, 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.

catch up British  

verb

1. (tr) to seize and take up (something) quickly

2. to reach or pass (someone or something), after following

   he soon caught him up

3. (intr; usually foll by on or with) to make up for lost ground or deal with a backlog (in some specified task or activity)

4. (tr; often passive) to absorb or involve

   she was caught up in her reading

5. (tr) to raise by or as if by fastening

   the hem of her dress was caught up with ribbons

---

catch up More Idioms  

1. Suddenly snatch or lift up, as in The wind caught up the kite and sent it high above the trees . [First half of 1300s]

2. Also, catch up with . Come from behind, overtake. This usage can be either literal, as in You run so fast it's hard to catch up with you , or figurative, as in The auditors finally caught up with the embezzler . [Mid-1800s]

3. Become involved with, enthralled by, as in We all were caught up in the magical mood of that evening . [Mid-1600s]

4. Also, . Bring or get up to date, as in Let's get together soon and catch up on all the news , or Tonight I have to catch up with my correspondence . [First half of 1900s]

---

Etymology

Origin of catch-up

1835–45, noun, adj. use of verb phrase catch up

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

catch-up catch up

Apple is playing catch-up to similar smart displays from Amazon and Google.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

“It’s been a bit of a catch-up trade, frankly.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

But mostly, I do the dance of having to schedule a catch-up like it’s a work meeting.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026

Nearly 20,000 young people have been vaccinated in Wales through catch-up clinics, following a deadly outbreak of meningitis B in Kent earlier this year.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

This girl has a paper on genocide to write and last week’s Trig problems, and a catch-up test about literary devices in some stupid story.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"If you get the science right, it's consistent. It's our understanding of what it's trying to tell us that has to catch up."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

But until institutions catch up, midcareer professionals must build that infrastructure for themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

"Yep, I'll be around and I really enjoyed this year getting to catch up," said Fleming.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Mr. Miéville peppers his pages with references to real-life people, literature and political history, casually throwing them into the text and expecting the reader to catch up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

I wave to say I’ll catch up to them.

From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• get back
• reclaim
• recoup
• regain
• repair
• rescue
• restore
• resume
• retrieve
• salvage

---