catch on

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

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To understand; to begin to understand; to realize.

   Synonyms: cotton on, glom on

   He didn't have to explain; I caught on right away.

   She's been catching on pretty well.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To become popular; to become commonplace; to become the standard.
   • 1921, W. F. Grew, The Cycle Industry, London, page 74:

     They were largely advertised, important firms rented expensive shops for retail purposes, and at one time it looked as though the American bicycle would catch on. The attempted invasion failed; a small army reached our shores but it got swallowed up and the officers retired with discomfiture.

   It's a crummy idea, and I certainly hope it does not catch on.

   At first, many people didn't like that kind of music, but after a while it caught on.

3. (intransitive, New England, dated, of food) To become stuck to the cooking vessel; to brown or burn slightly.
   • 2011, Mark Gaier, Clark Frasier, Rachel Forrest, Ron Manville, Maine Classics: More than 150 Delicious Recipes from Down East, Philadelphia: Running Press, →ISBN, page 172:

     They waited for the pot roast to "catch on," sticking to the pot just enough to brown

• (antonym(s) of “become commonplace or standard”): go the way of the dinosaurs

• “catch on”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.