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catch up with sb

(PUNISH) phrasal verb with catch
 
 
/kætʃ/ verb (caught, caught)

Definition

If someone in authority catches up with you, they discover that you have been doing something wrong and often punish you for it: They had been selling stolen cars for years before the police caught up with them.Punishing and punishmentsPunishing by causing painHitting and beating
(Definition of catch up with sb (PUNISH) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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