Phrasal verbs using the verb, “catch”:
Many phasal verbs using “catch” have an obvious meaning, but not all:
catch fire: to become extremely popular or well-known (more intensive than catch on below)
“News of the baby panda bear’s birth has really caught fire among the public.”
*
catch hell: to receive someone’s anger and its consequences
“You’re going to catch hell from your wife if she finds out what you did!”
*
catch on: to become popular
“This new line of clothing is really catching on!”
*
catch on: to realize, understand
“We'd better leave before they catch on to what we're doing.”
“I'm starting to catch on to how this software works.”
*
catch up: to reach the level of a competitor or an unrealized goal
“We’ve got a lot to catch up on if we want to win the Anderson account.”
*
catch up with: to get the latest information
“I’d like to catch up with you on the Anderson account.”
*
catch up with: earlier actions will return with negative results
“All his drinking and smoking is going to catch up with him someday.”
*
And one idiom:
catch someone with their pants down: usually formed in the past tense: to surprise in an embarrassing way
“Samsung believes its latest smart phone has caught Apple with its pants down.”
Comments