catch up with (someone)

1. Of friends or relatives, to update one another on life events that occurred since the last time seeing each other. It was so lovely catching up with you; it's been years since we were last together! You and I must really catch up with each other sometime soon. I haven't caught up with Maggie in ages. How is she doing?

2. To find (and, of police, to arrest) someone after a period of time trying to track that person down. The bank robber disappeared for almost a week, but the police caught up with him at the border of Mexico. You won't get away with this, sonny! The feds will catch up with you eventually! The fuzz won't catch up with us here. Why would they ever think to look for us in a church?

3. To make up the difference between oneself and someone or something, so as to be at an equal level, status, or point of progress. If we speed up, we might be able to catch up with the car ahead of us! You're going to have to study really hard to catch up with the rest of the class. Mona's the fastest girl in the class—you'll never even catch up to her in a race, let alone beat her.

4. To meet again at a later point in time. We'll catch up with you after the movie. I have to drop off these books at the library, so I'll catch up with you guys at the cafeteria. A: "Catch up with you later?" B: "Yeah, I'm free any time after 4:00."

5. To cause unpleasant consequences or have dire implications, especially after a certain period of time. You might like to party all night long now, but all that drinking is going to catch up with you someday. His criminal record as a teen caught up with him in job interviews as an adult. I'm not surprised he fell asleep at his desk today—pulling an all-nighter always catches up with you.

catch up with

1. To find or arrest after a period of pursuit: The police finally caught up with him in Omaha.

2. To have unpleasant consequences for, especially after a period of quiescence: mistakes that caught up with him when he ran for president.