play catch up

P p

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [pley kach uhp]
- /pleɪ kætʃ ʌp/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [pley kach uhp]
- /pleɪ kætʃ ʌp/

Definitions of play catch up words

noun play catch up an effort to reach or pass a norm, especially after a period of delay: After the slowdown there was a catch-up in production. 1
noun play catch up an effort to catch up with or surpass a competitor, as in a sports contest. 1
noun play catch up an instance of catching up. 1
adjective play catch up intended to keep up with or surpass a norm or competitor: a catch-up pay raise to offset inflation. 1
idioms play catch up play catch-up, Informal. to make a special effort to overcome a late start, a liability, or the advantage a competitor has: After Russia launched the first space satellite, other countries had to play catch-up. 1

See all 5 definitions of play catch up

Information block about the term

Origin of play catch up

First appearance:

before 1835

One of the 34% newest English words

1835-45, Americanism; noun, adj. use of verb phrase catch up

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Play catch up

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Play catch up

play catch up popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 40% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 68% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

play catch up usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for play catch up

verb play catch up

birddog — one of any of various breeds of dogs trained to hunt or retrieve birds.
chivy — to harass or nag
give chase — to pursue in order to seize, overtake, etc.: The police officer chased the thief.
go after — to move or proceed, especially to or from something: They're going by bus.
hunt down — to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.

All 5 Synonyms of play catch up