catch on
Britishverb
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to become popular or fashionable
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to grasp mentally; understand
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Understand, as in Aunt Mary doesn't catch on to any jokes . The verb to catch alone was used with this meaning from Shakespeare's time, on being added in the late 1800s. Also see get it , def. 2.
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Become popular, as in This new dance is really beginning to catch on . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Eventually even people around Clark Kent have to catch on: This guy might not walk around like he’s a superhero, but he is one.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2026
Still, there’s plenty of AI “slop” that likely won’t catch on, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
“One goal I have for myself is that I can catch on a lot better when I’m not worried about school.”
From MarketWatch • Feb. 10, 2026
Then there’s the possibility that quantum computers don’t catch on, as their capabilities haven’t advanced enough to justify large-scale spending on the technology.
From Barron's • Jan. 13, 2026
He did not catch on to the words at first, and Jake had to repeat them.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
