Meaning of “catch sb out” in the English Dictionary

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"catch sb out" in English

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informal

— phrasal verb with catch uk /kætʃ/ us /kætʃ/ verb caught, caught

› to show that someone is doing wrong:

I suspected he wasn't telling me the truth, and one day I caught him out when I found some letters he'd written.

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› to trick someone into making a mistake:

The examiner will try to catch you out, so stay calm and think carefully before you speak.

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› to put someone in a difficult situation:

A lot of people were caught out by the sudden change in the weather.

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(Definition of “catch sb out” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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(Definition of “catch sb out” from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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