From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcatch on phrasal verb1 POPULARto become popular and fashionable The idea of glasses being a fashion item has been slow to catch on.2 UNDERSTANDto begin to understand or realize something to It was a long time before the police caught on to what he was really doing. → catch→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
catch on• Thomas isn't catching on as quickly as some of the other children.• She catches on fast and will soon be promoted.• It took Jennifer a long time to catch on to the fact that Mary was taking advantage of her.catch to• It's not that hard, once you catch on to it.• The film has its rough patches: particularly the implausible speed with which Jeanne catches on to something being amiss with Mika.• But by the second year of high school I caught on to taking the good teachers.• Patients catch on to the criterion after a short while and soon are hearing a yes after each card.• Ham it up, as much as you like-the children will soon catch on to the fun.• And lots of people have caught on to this.• Then I caught on to what it was the guy was saying.• Perhaps because a psychologist might have caught on to what this was all about-and too soon to suit Hari Seldon.• When Laughton caught on to what was going on, he became paranoid and refused to work.From Longman Business Dictionarycatch on phrasal verb [intransitive]1if a product or an idea catches on, it becomes popularIndustry executives believe that the company’s products will catch on as customers become more security conscious.The idea caught on fast.2if someone catches on, they begin to understand or realize somethingSome investors clearly caught on that bad news was in the offing.Foreign companies are catching on to the advantages of franchising. → catch→ See Verb table 