catch out
SeparableThe object can go before or after the particle — but a pronoun MUST go in the middle: “clean it up”, never “clean up it”.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: catch OUT. Saying “CATCH out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /tʃ/ of “catch” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “catch out” is said “ca-tchout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
What it means
To expose someone's mistake or lie.
- “The interviewer caught him out on the dates.”
- “I was caught out by the second question.”
Similar: expose, trip up