catch out

verb

caught out; catching out; catches out

transitive verb

1

: to detect in error or wrongdoing

caught him out committing perjury

2

: to take unawares or by surprise

Examples of catch out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Early in the second period, just after Greaves got caught out of the net while playing a puck to his right, Provorov hustled to the other side of the net and sprawled across the ice, blocking a shot by Florida’s Tomas Nosek that would have tied the score at 1. —Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026

From there, Sorrell worked a walk before Grahovac flew out to the wall and Sorrell got caught out at first being aggressive on the base path. —Tony Catalina, Austin American Statesman, 28 Feb. 2026

Doing so will put them at risk of getting caught out at immigration, however. —Duncan Madden, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Why local expertise matters more here Miami’s neighborhoods exhibit extreme variation that catches out-of-town buyers by surprise. —Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 19 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1759, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for catch out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout