cotton on
Britishverb
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to perceive the meaning (of)
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to make use (of)
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.
The precocious girls soon cotton on to the headmistress’s ruse and parry her appeals to dish on Miss Brodie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
Men ferry bales of cotton on forklifts, and automated equipment cleans the cotton and transforms it into spun yarns that can be made into fabric.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2024
Yoimut lived to see the Boswell corporation grow cotton on her ancestral home, where she was never able to return.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2023
Every few months, Google would cotton on to the group’s tactics and begin blocking its messages.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2018
Along with yams, sugarcane, and potatoes, we grew cotton on forty acres.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
