How to Use play catch-up in a Sentence

play catch-up

phrase
  • And the rest of us were always trying to play catch-up with him.
    Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 25 May 2021
  • They just got eaten up and fell way too far behind to play catch-up.
    Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 9 Dec. 2024
  • As such, some traders say next week could see the US market play catch-up.
    WSJ, 13 Oct. 2023
  • So the Fed has had to play catch-up with a series of sharp rate increases.
    Paul Wiseman, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2022
  • Crews often are stuck having to play catch-up on routes missed earlier in the week.
    Talia Richman, baltimoresun.com, 19 Aug. 2020
  • In a broad sense, Apple is more than happy to play catch-up in certain areas.
    Yoni Heisler, BGR, 18 Nov. 2021
  • Many analysts felt the need to play catch-up, increasing their stock price targets.
    Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Jan. 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
  • And that’s left Herbert exposed, having to play catch-up while running for his life.
    Mirjam Swanson, Oc Register, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Boston controlled most of the first half but missed its first seven shots to start the second half and was forced to play catch-up.
    courant.com, 27 Dec. 2020
  • The Lakers were down by 20 points in the third quarter and were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way.
    Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Demand has been so strong that Ford stopped taking orders last year to play catch-up on production.
    Dallas News, 21 Jan. 2023
  • The situation looks especially dire since there’s no time to play catch-up.
    Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2023
  • The defense’s deficiencies put the onus on the offense to play catch-up, and that left little room for error.
    Randy Johnson, Star Tribune, 26 Oct. 2020
  • But Patrick Mahomes can sling it, and that will put pressure on Matt Ryan to play catch-up.
    Los Angeles Times, 25 Dec. 2020
  • The stock market’s steady rally is forcing even bullish market forecasters to play catch-up and raise their targets.
    Jesse Pound, CNBC, 11 July 2024
  • Opponents often outplayed the Stars early in games, forcing them to play catch-up.
    Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 1 June 2023
  • This is the latest in a string of updates in which Twitch has had to play catch-up with the platform’s more risqué content creators.
    Ash Parrish, The Verge, 27 Mar. 2024
  • The worst-case scenario is that low transmission throughout autumn was sheer luck, and over the next few weeks the virus will rapidly play catch-up.
    Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 20 Dec. 2024
  • This is a great way for business owner to play catch-up on their retirement saving while also lowering their current tax bills.
    David Rae, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The ball instead dropped for a double that put the Pirates ahead 2-1, forcing the Cubs to again play catch-up.
    Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025
  • The Fed now must play catch-up, even with the risk of pushing the economy into a significant slowdown.
    Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2022
  • Refineries, which turn crude oil into fuels that can be used in cars and trucks, have tried to play catch-up on both sides of the Atlantic in recent months.
    New York Times, 31 Mar. 2022
  • Seven plays in, the offense already had 14 points, setting the tone for a day when Tulane could never play catch-up.
    The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2025
  • This means the market makers, often called dealers, are the ones that have to play catch-up, adding to volatility instead of subduing it.
    Oliver Renick, CNBC, 23 July 2026
  • Experts say reading is also a harder subject to play catch-up on when students fall behind, and how teachers are trained for this problem needs to change.
    Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 29 Jan. 2025
  • That meant the bloc came out of winter with unusually low storage volumes and had to play catch-up, adding pressure to an already-tight global market.
    Jenny Strasburg, WSJ, 20 June 2022
  • Intel’s partnership with AWS is part of the chipmaker’s attempt to play catch-up.
    Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 16 Sep. 2024
  • Fiction, as always, will have to play catch-up, which is what Thomas Grattan’s career now seems splendidly to be doing.
    Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2021
  • Radio, television, and print media, which were accustomed to controlling the flow of mainstream music, had to play catch-up.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'play 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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