caught on the hop

The phrase "caught on the hop" is an informal idiom used to describe situations where someone is taken by surprise or unprepared.

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Definition

B2General

(informal)Taken by surprise or found unprepared for an event or situation.

Example

He was caught on the hop when the meeting was rescheduled at the last minute.
The sudden change in weather caught the hikers on the hop.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "caught on the hop":

on the hop catch out on the back foot get the drop on catch on on the hoof hop into hop on off guard hopped up taken aback on the jump on the hook jump on caught behind on the ball catch it catch step to the quick snap up take aback