catch up vs attain

catch up and attain both are verbs.

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

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

Other hypernyms of catch up include arrive at, gain, hit, make, reach.

catch up (verb)	attain (verb)
learn belatedly; find out about something after it happened	reach a point in time, or a certain state or level
reach the point where one should be after a delay	reach a destination, either real or abstract
	find unexpectedly
	to gain with effort