catch on

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

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

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

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

2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To become popular; to become commonplace; to become the standard.

   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.

Antonyms

• (become commonplace or standard): go the way of the dinosaurs

Translations

to become popular

• French: se répandre (fr)
• Italian: diffondersi (it), attecchire (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: calar (es), cuajar (es)