How to Use catch-up in a Sentence

catch-up

1 of 3 adjective
  • Great for a date or a catch-up with friends.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The last one is about where the next phase of that catch-up happens.
    Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • Weekends meant for rest turned into work catch-up.
    Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Time for a post-holiday catch-up.
    Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Those games were largely shootouts in wins and catch-up sprints in losses.
    Charlotte Observer, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The Laver Cup has 90 years of catch-up to do.
    Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The cozy space is great for a quiet morning or a cute catch-up with friends.
    Rachel Dube, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • That’s how McCarthy found himself in catch-up mode.
    Alec Lewis, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
  • The time off can be used for academic catch-up or enrichment.
    Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2023
  • Practice was coming to a close, but not before a water break and catch-up with friends.
    Karina Elwood, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2023
  • Despite the valiant efforts, catch-up hockey does not become them.
    Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 17 Oct. 2025
  • What was supposed to be a quick catch-up turned into a delightful two-hour reunion.
    Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 6 Mar. 2024
  • Thompson returned an on-side kick 7 yards for a score as the Rattlers tried to play catch-up.
    Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 8 Apr. 2023
  • Here’s a quick catch-up on what to expect, plus B-sides from culture and history.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • China is so far behind the developed world now that more catch-up growth is possible.
    Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
  • While this video wasnt shot at a target store, many feel these type of actions will continue as supply chains catch-up.
    Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
  • For the girls' catch-up day, Crawford looked stunning in a tie-dye cover-up and oversized straw hat.
    Starr Bowenbank, People.com, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Adding to the complexity of the math catch-up challenge is debate over how the subject should be taught.
    Ariel Gilreath, al, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Last night was a return to normalcy for SNL, and a game of catch-up.
    Esther Zuckerman, The Atlantic, 12 Nov. 2023
  • All said, the catch-up payments stand to be a huge boon to gig workers and delivery drivers throughout the state.
    Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2023
  • Those aged 50 and over are allowed to add catch-up contributions to this limit.
    Elliot Raphaelson, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2026
  • The entire market was bottomed out at the turn of the century, so there was a big catch-up necessary.
    Moneyshow, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • First-year peppers have a lot of catch-up growing to do, which may interfere with pepper production.
    Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Nov. 2025
  • With the poor shooting first half — only four field goals made —putting them in catch-up mode, the Eagles’ valiant rally feel short.
    Glenn Graham, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Millions of Americans may lose a chance to make a catch-up contribution next year.
    Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 25 July 2023
  • But his impressive catch-up sprint behind Gibson will be a postscript to this highlight.
    Steve Buckley, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
  • In true '90s fashion, Lopez rang up Jarrett for a quick catch-up on brick cellphones.
    Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Weeknights are spent at work happy hours and catch-up dinners with friends, while your weekends are booked up with weddings and family trips.
    Addison Aloian, Women's Health, 3 July 2023
  • Wondering how much of a difference that catch-up contribution could make?
    Becca Stanek, The Week, 26 July 2023
  • That catch-up limit jumps to $11,250 for workers age 60 to 63.
    Kate Dore, Cfp®, Ea, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025

catch-up

2 of 3 noun
  • Catch up with a 1-minute video catch-up.
    Cate Martel, The Hill, 13 Apr. 2026
  • So there was a lot of playing catch-up.
    Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
  • The catch-up play is not about volume but signal.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
  • The quick catch-up in a crowded hallway.
    Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
  • The rest of the table tennis world is still playing catch-up.
    Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 12 May 2026
  • In years past, she had been given catch-up days to focus on a single type of case.
    E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 7 May 2026
  • Tuesday's report provides a kind of catch-up.
    Scott Horsley, NPR, 12 May 2026
  • For many households, incomes are still playing catch-up.
    Bruce Helmer, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026
  • Apple has been playing catch-up with on AI with its Big Tech peers.
    ABC News, 5 June 2026
  • For the first time the whole game, all the players glued their eyes to the plate, conversations and catch-ups stopped mid-sentence.
    Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026
  • Illinois has been playing catch-up as technology outpaces the law.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The outbreak is outpacing the global response, as doctors in the region play catch-up.
    Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 1 June 2026
  • Governance is always playing catch-up, trying to clean up issues after the fact.
    Matthew Gantner, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2026
  • If still working, pay attention to new catch-up contribution levels.
    Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 15 June 2026
  • Anthropic released Claude Code a year ago, forcing other rivals to play catch-up.
    Shirin Ghaffary, Bloomberg, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Make the maximum contribution each year, as well as the catch-up contribution.
    Elliot Raphaelson, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 June 2026
  • And then developer conference season comes in fast, bringing with it all the reminders of who is playing catch-up with whom.
    Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 12 June 2026
  • That’s bad news for a Knicks team that’s built a poor habit of playing catch-up after slow starts both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
    Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 1 June 2026
  • Some of that progression was likely some natural catch-up given his late July birthday.
    Scott Wheeler, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2026
  • This is an opportunity to get better, not to play catch-up for Joel, but to actually get better and build on last year.
    CBS News, 8 June 2026
  • All content on the TF1+ streaming and catch-up service can be accessed via Netflix.
    Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 18 June 2026
  • Deputy Director Alan Gonzalez said the team is playing catch-up with the disease.
    Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 31 May 2026
  • The world’s fractured global-health community is now playing a lethal game of catch-up with an extremely dangerous virus.
    Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026
  • To compound the stress, those returning from time off frequently face a mountain of catch-up work, instantly undoing the good vibes.
    Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 8 June 2026
  • Cramer said there may be a catch-up opportunity in the smaller retailer, though Costco remains his long-term favorite.
    Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 15 May 2026
  • That left the administration scrambling to play catch-up once the private deal closed and the new owners announced fuel operations would end.
    Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 4 June 2026
  • Especially if the Knicks play another game of unnecessary catch-up and rely on the Spurs to fall apart down the stretch once again.
    Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 12 June 2026
  • The percentage dipped some for the final week of the season, possibly because viewers were doing some catch-up viewing on the first installment.
    Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2026
  • Doing so creates the false impression that PC makers are always playing a game of catch-up or follow-the-leader, which is not the case.
    Marco Chiappetta, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • As the set-piece revolution hit the Premier League, Arsenal were riding the wave instead of playing catch-up.
    Ahmed Walid, New York Times, 21 May 2026

catch up

3 of 3 verb
  • Now, the demons have caught up.
    Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Need to catch up on the show first?
    Richard Edwards, Space.com, 19 May 2026
  • Ars caught up with him to learn more.
    ArsTechnica, 23 June 2026
  • That’s when the cops caught up with him.
    ProPublica, 13 Sep. 2025
  • To me, this is where cities need to catch up.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026
  • Read more You’re all caught up.
    Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Overnight, the roots catch up and the leaves get perky again.
    Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Sep. 2022
  • Now, at last, the cult of the war has caught up with him.
    Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
  • But at that point, I was caught up in it.
    Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 24 May 2026
  • And there is catching up to do.
    Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
  • But will his hands ever catch up?
    Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Sports as a kid catching up with me.
    Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Jan. 2026
  • The schedule kind of caught up to us.
    Evan Webeck, Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2025
  • But then he’s caught up in the moment.
    Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Or have the times simply caught up with it?
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Their mandate isn’t to catch up.
    Jason Wingard, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • There's plenty more to catch up.
    Amanda Hancock, Louisville Courier Journal, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Don’t get caught up in the shiny numbers.
    Alex Sherman,contessa Brewer, CNBC, 9 Jan. 2026
  • My body turns away before my mind can catch up.
    Valeng Cha, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2026
  • Until then, catch up on the whole saga here.
    Chris Branch, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The few that didn’t have hustled to catch up.
    Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 23 June 2026
  • Surely time doesn’t catch up with you overnight.
    Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 24 May 2026
  • Garces caught up, but appeared to bring him down.
    Damian Calhoun, Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • They get caught up, but their hearts were in the right place to do it.
    Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 10 June 2026
  • The tools were ready before the org chart caught up.
    Cindy Rodriguez Constable, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • And that spirals her, and then she gets all caught up.
    Matt Grobar, Deadline, 26 Mar. 2026
  • They got caught up in a storm and were too young to escape.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Ahead, catch up on the cast’s off-screen romances.
    Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 26 June 2026
  • Those that don’t may be forced to catch up in real time.
    Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2026
  • The ones that wait could spend the next few years catching up.
    Chris Wade, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'catch-up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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