catch up

phrasal verb

Word Forms

present tense
I/you/we/they	catch up
he/she/it	catches up
present participle	catching up
past tense	caught up
past participle	caught up

1
intransitive/transitive (catch someone/something up) to go faster so that you reach the person or vehicle in front of you
We left before them, but they soon caught us up again.
catch up with:
If you hurry, you should catch up with them at the bridge.
Synonyms and related words
To go faster, or to make something go faster
speed up
accelerate
quicken
2
intransitive/transitive (catch someone/something up) to improve in order to reach the same standard or rate as someone or something
He’s missed so much school that he’s going to find it hard to catch up.
catch up with:
Pressure grew for salaries to catch up with inflation.
Synonyms and related words
To become better
improve
recover
look up
3
intransitive to do something that should have been done before
The deadline’s tomorrow. How are we ever going to catch up in time?
catch up on:
I just want to go home and catch up on some sleep.
catch up with:
Staff are struggling to catch up with the backlog.
Synonyms and related words
To make progress, or to achieve something
progress
get on with
get ahead
4
intransitive to talk to someone you have not seen for some time and find out what they have been doing
Come over tomorrow and we can catch up.
catch up with:
I’ll catch up with you another time, Kevin.
It’ll give them a chance to talk and catch up with all their news.
Synonyms and related words
To have a conversation with someone
talk
chat
catch up
5
catch me up
it’s a phrase that means you should fill me in, you say it when you’re missing out on something and you want to be filled in
“Have you heard the gossip?” “No not yet, catch me up”.
Submitted by:
Shards from United Kingdom on 03/10/2016
Open Dictionary - October2016

catch up

catch me up

catch up

catch me up