play catch-up

catch-up

P p

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [kach-uhp]
- /ˈkætʃˌʌp/
- /ˈpleɪ kætʃ ʌp/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [kach-uhp]
- /ˈkætʃˌʌp/

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
phrase play catch-up If someone is playing catch-up, they are trying to equal or better someone else's performance. 0

See all 6 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 59% 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.