catch napping

English

catch napping (third-person singular simple present catches napping, present participle catching napping, simple past and past participle caught napping)

(transitive, idiomatic) To surprise; to take advantage of the lack of watchfulness of.
- 2024 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:
  The rout started after four minutes when Chelsea were caught napping by Kevin De Bruyne's quick free-kick which left Raheem Sterling to fire in at the far post before Aguero, who had already missed an open goal, curled a magnificent right-foot finish past the stretching Kepa Arrizabalaga from 25 yards.
- 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
  Still, a dozen men with rifles, and cartridges to match, stayed behind when they filed through a white aldea lying silent amid the cane, and the Sin Verguenza swung into slightly quicker stride. If the Colonel Morales was to be caught at all he must be caught napping, and, as they knew, he usually slept with one eye open.

to surprise