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catch napping



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Idioms and Phrases

Surprise, take unawares. This term is often used in the passive, as in The United States was really caught napping the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor . It originated in the mid-1500s as to be taken napping . Also see under off guard .
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Example Sentences

But he was one of those wary old watch-dogs who are hard to catch napping.

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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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Catchment boardcatch off guard