Verb: catch on
Usage: informal
Usage: informal
- Understand or realize, usually after some time or initial difficulty
"She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on";
- get wise [informal], get onto, tumble [informal], latch on [informal], cotton on [informal], twig [Brit, informal], get it [informal], cop on [Brit, informal]
- Become popular
"This fashion caught on in Paris"
Derived forms: caught on, catches on, catching on
Type of: apprehend, change, compass, comprehend, dig [informal], get the picture [informal], grasp, grok [N. Amer, informal], savvy