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
  • 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
  • Store 8 was created when Walmart was scrambling to catch-up with Amazon.
    — Andrew Binns, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024

catch-up

2 of 3 noun
  • Catch up with a 1-minute video catch-up.
    — Cate Martel, The Hill, 20 Apr. 2026
  • 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

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, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Read more You’re all caught up.
    — Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Read more You’re all caught up.
    — Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Read more You’re all caught up.
    — Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 15 Jan. 2026
  • 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

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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