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
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
Her parents were sharecroppers and by the age of 6, Fannie Lou was picking cotton on the Marlow plantation in Sunflower County.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 10, 2023
Yet based on the limited quantities of organic seed in circulation, industry insiders say the amount of organic cotton on the market today is impossible.
From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2022
The soft cotton on her skin still thrilled her.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
