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aufholen

catch up

verb OWF-hoh-len Rare
Arts & Culture Sports

Also means

make up ground

Usage Note

aufholen is a separable verb meaning to catch up or close a gap, common in sport when trailing. Die Mannschaft holte zwei Tore auf means the team made up two goals. It also applies to time or backlogs.

Examples

"In der Schlussphase holte der Läufer den Rückstand auf."

Natural Translation

In the closing stage the runner made up the deficit.

Literal Translation

In the closing-phase caught the runner the deficit up.

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