catch on

Verb

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

1. (idiomatic, informal, transitive (reflexive), Ireland (especially Northern Ireland)) Chiefly in the form catch oneself on: to cause (oneself) to get or regain a proper appreciation of a situation; to behave in the expected, sensible way; to stop fooling around or being silly.
   • Big Pat's still wearing his hair like two floppy ears on a dog. He's amazing: wouldn't you think his wife or someone would tell him to catch himself on.2011, Colin Neill, “Behind Every Man …”, in Turas: A Story of Strangers in a Strange Land, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester: Matador, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN, page 68
2. (idiomatic, intransitive) Chiefly followed by to: to cling or hold on to something; to get stuck on something; to take hold.
   • Every other man in town might have walked over that plank, and it wouldn't gin away. I walked over that plank last night, and airly this morning. I see, when I stepped on to it, that somebody had been a movin' on it; but I didn't know the 'tother eend was only just ketched on to the rock.1868, Oliver Optic [pseudonym; William Taylor Adams], “An Inductive Argument”, in Freaks of Fortune; or, Half Round the World, Boston, Mass.: Lee and Shepard, →OCLC, page 56
   • He meant to drift altogether and literally, body and soul, like a detached leaf drifting in the wind-currents under the immovable trees of a forest glade; to drift without ever catching on to anything.1912 October – 1914 May 29 (date written; published 1915 September 24), Joseph Conrad, Victory, New York, N.Y.: The Modern Library, published 1921, →OCLC, part II, page 89
   1. (New-England, dated, idiomatic, intransitive) Of food being cooked: to become stuck to the cooking vessel and brown or burn slightly.
      • When we stand by the fireplace at Arrows, it's not hard to imagine the ancestor of our farm standing around an iron pot and tending the well-kept fire, taking in the aromas of cooking that filled the room. They waited for the pot roast to "catch on," sticking to the pot just enough to brown, giving...2011, Mark Gaier, Clark Frasier, with Rachel Forrest, “The Farm [Classic Yankee Pot Roast]”, in Maine Classics: More than 150 Delicious Recipes from Down East, Philadelphia, Pa.: Running Press...
3. (idiomatic, intransitive) Of an idea, a thing, etc.: to become fashionable or popular; also, to become established as standard; to become commonplace.
   • It’s a crummy idea, and I certainly hope it doesn’t catch on.
   • At first, many people didn’t like that kind of music, but after a while it caught on.

   Antonyms:

   go out of fashion, go the way of the dinosaurs

4. (idiomatic, intransitive) Followed by to: to recognize the potential of something; also, to take advantage of or use something (especially an idea, a trend, etc.).
   • The Chicago papers are quick to "catch on" to a fire sensation and make the most of it. […] The first news received in Cincinnati of the fire in the Planters' House in St. Louis Sunday morning came from Chicago.1883 January 16, The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLI, number 16, Cincinnati, Oh.: [Faran & McLean], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 1
   • The NME were very late in catching on to punk, which is why they had to get [Julie] Burchill and [Tony] Parsons in.2026 June, Kris Needs, “[What Did You Write in the Punk War, Daddy?] I Used … Sounds!”, in Paul Lester, editor, Record Collector, number 584, London: Diamond Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 77, column...
5. (idiomatic, informal, intransitive) Chiefly followed by to: to (begin to) understand; to realize.
   • He didn’t have to explain; I caught on right away.
   • She’s been catching on pretty well.

   Synonyms:

   cotton on, glom on