to catch up with
152
2.7
- phrasal verb
- /kæʧ ʌp wɪð/
:
alcanzar a
- She managed to catch up with the leader of the race just before the finish line.
And so he would never actually catch up with the the tortoise.
- And so he would never actually catch up with the the tortoise.
- The competition will never catch up with Joey Chestnut.
- and and it will eventually catch up with you. I mean,
- And as males age, they catch up with females.
- I feel like my mind hadn't quite caught up with the speed everything was happening.
- That means that wages have a chance to catch up with that.
- We catch up with Hunt, who is in jail in Angel headquarters.
- And part of this is yes, once again, that that Ding Dang wage hasn't caught up with that Ding Dang cost of living.
- Joe Biden is struggling and his age has caught up with him.
- So the character moves to Boston, and then in the finale, we catch up with her and see what she's been working on.
Examples
-
All right, guys, catch up with you later.
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You better go catch up with your friend, or you're not gonna have anyone to play with.
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So I will catch up with you guys later.
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So I will catch up with you party people in the morning.
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So I would be really, really happy to catch up with you once the time allows it.
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You gotta wait for the rest of the world to catch up with you.
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We got to catch up with the others.
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What did you expect me to do when I finally caught up with you?
Fiction book (1990) -
Well, I'll catch up with you.
-
I'll catch up with you guys in a second.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To take hold of a moving person or thing to stop it
45
3.3
To catch up with and pass someone moving ahead of you
Antonyms
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'catch' (to reach), 'up' (to a higher/complete state) and 'with' (together/alongside) can plausibly infer the core idea of 'reaching the same level' or 'bringing oneself alongside others. 'However, the extension to doing missed work and the grammaticalised particle meaning of 'up' in phrasal verbs is somewhat metaphorical and variable, so full comprehension often requires prior exposure or context.
Etymology
Catch up with comes from the simple image of chasing: you try to catch someone who is up ahead so you are 'with' them. That's why it means 'to reach someone or something ahead of you'.