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Glite Dictionary
to catch out

to catch out

14 6.3
To show someone has made a mistake or done something wrong, often by surprise
  • phrasal verb
  • /kæʧ aʊt/
: pillar
  • I knew they had books in England, but I just didn't want to be caught out.
  • get caught out
  • want to be caught out
  • embarrassed to be caught out

There are people on Instagram and I caught someone out myself actually.

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Examples

  • Look who I caught out in the parking lot!

    The Indian Runner (1991)

  • And now you've been caught out, you're trying to drag Trife back into this.

    Kidulthood (2006)

  • Many teachers still think it is necessary to set questions that could potentially 'catch them out'...

    Blog text (4)

  • Make sure you know your stuff, because conferences are one place where you will get caught out.

    Blog text (33)

  • And sometimes students ask questions just to try and catch a teacher out or to try and disrupt a class.

    The Royal Institution

  • "Yes," he admitted, as if he'd been caught out.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • CEOs get caught out all the time with their pants down, and nothing happens.

    Blog text (33)

  • I never thought I'd be caught out by our postman.

    The Go-Between (1971)

  • We don't want to be caught out here after nightfall.

    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

  • The teacher was quick to catch out any student who tried to cheat during the exam.

Synonyms

to expose
vsto catch out
413 4.1

Reveal hidden facts or bad actions to people

is about surprising a person by finding their mistake or wrongdoing
to uncover
vsto catch out
234 3.5

Reveal secret facts to the public

is narrower, centring on surprising an individual by finding their error
to blow the whistle
vsto catch out
39 5.1

To tell the authorities or the public about wrongdoing

is about unexpectedly catching an individual rather than formally reporting wrongs
to find out
vsto catch out
36 1.1

To discover and show that someone has done something wrong

focuses on catching someone suddenly by finding their error or deceit
caught in the act
vsto catch out
31 3.7

Someone finds a person while they are doing something wrong

describes the act of surprising someone by discovering their mistake rather than the moment caught
caught red-handed
vsto catch out
22 4.6

Discovered while doing something wrong or illegal

is about the act of surprising and exposing a person for their error rather than the state of being found
to discover
vsto catch out
2 1.0

To make secret information known to other people

is about unexpectedly showing a person's mistake rather than general discovery

Antonyms

to cover up
454 3.7

To hide something so people cannot see or find out about it

How Exposed

to expose
413 4.1
to catch out
14 6.3
to notice
∞ 1.0
to spot
585 2.1

Surface Forms

catch out infinitive
catching out present participle
catches out third person singular
caught out past
caught out past participle

Morphology

catch + out

The sense 'to expose someone by discovering a mistake' is largely built from 'catch' (to notice/capture) plus the particle 'out' (to expose/reveal), so the basic idea is derivable from the parts. However, the specific phrasal-verb usage ('catch someone out' = find them in an error or wrongdoing) relies on the particle meaning and collocational pattern that may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

Catch out may come from the image of surprising or trapping someone who thinks they are safe: you catch them out in the open or in a trap so their error shows. So, to catch someone out means 'to expose a mistake or misdeed'.