catch in the act

catch (one) in the act

To see, and perhaps apprehend, someone as they are doing something (often something nefarious). The police caught the robbers in the act of ransacking another house. I suspected that my friend was stealing money from me, and then I caught her in the act. Ah, our doorbell camera caught someone in the act! Look at this guy stealing our packages!

See also: act, catch

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

catch someone in the act (of doing something)

to discover someone doing a [bad] deed at the very moment when the deed is being done. I caught her in the act of stealing the coat. He was caught in the act of taking money from the cash box.

See also: act, catch

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

catch in the act

see under catch red-handed.

See also: act, catch

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.