catch up vs acquire

catch up and acquire both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
catch up	No	No	Yes	No
acquire	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, acquire is a hypernym of catch up; that is, acquire is a word with a broader meaning than catch up:

Other hypernyms of catch up include larn, learn.

catch up (verb)	acquire (verb)
learn belatedly; find out about something after it happened	come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
reach the point where one should be after a delay	take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
	gain through experience
	gain knowledge or skills
	come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
	win something through one's efforts
	locate (a moving entity) by means of a tracking system such as radar