How to Use caught in the act in a Sentence

caught in the act

idiom
  • In episode 7, they were even caught in the act by Victor's mom.
    refinery29.com, 16 June 2021
  • While the bear wasn’t caught in the act, a wildlife official found eight cars with their doors wide open and signs of rummaging.
    Michael Hollan, Fox News, 8 Aug. 2021
  • But no star has ever been caught in the act of gulping down a planet this way—until now.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 3 May 2023
  • Even with its remote location, St. Paul Island was caught in the act of eruption in 1793.
    Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 22 Oct. 2015
  • The burglars were caught in the act; the Nixon administration tried to cover up the involvement of key White House aides.
    Washington Post, 28 May 2021
  • These may very well be baby galaxies caught in the act of forming, growing.
    Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 25 Sep. 2012
  • At the same time, getting caught in the act of trying to sabotage U.S. democracy has proved costly.
    Henry Meyer, Bloomberg.com, 25 Sep. 2020
  • Here was a president caught in the act of trying to get a foreign government to interfere with a U.S. election.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 11 Feb. 2021
  • The mystery persisted until 2011 when the culprit, a male pufferfish just five inches long, was finally caught in the act.
    Lisa Raffensperger, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2013
  • Prosecutors called the crime a robbery gone wrong, saying that Rose was caught in the act of burglarizing the home and decided to kill the couple rather than flee, according to The News Tribune.
    Nicole Acosta, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2023
  • Images obtained by prosecutors reportedly show the pair caught in the act.
    Dallas News, 5 Jan. 2022
  • The dog — wagging its tail, furiously enjoying itself while breaking the laws of men — was caught in the act in a video posted by the Subway Creatures Instagram account.
    Curbed, 30 Aug. 2022
  • Occasionally they get caught in the act, and have to make amends (almost always a minuscule proportion of revenues or profits).
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2022
  • In 1991, Reubens was charged with public masturbation after he allegedly was caught in the act in a Sarasota, Florida, movie theater.
    Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 31 July 2023
  • Ironically, the first oviraptorosaur ever described—Oviraptor itself—was thought to have been caught in the act of a robbing a nest because it was found associated with eggs.
    Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Dec. 2021
  • Photographs and videos of mutilated bodies and attackers caught in the act began streaming into the national consciousness.
    Michael J. Coren, Quartz, 21 Apr. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'caught in the act.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: