"cotton on" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cottons on",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cottoning on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cottoned on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cottoned on",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "cotton on (third-person singular simple present cottons on, present participle cottoning on, simple past and past participle cottoned on)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (on)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 July 30, Rowena Mason, “Dominic Cummings said Tory MPs do not care about poor people or NHS”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "That is what most people in the country have thought about the Tory party for decades. […] Tory MPs largely do not care about these poorer people. They don’t care about the NHS. And the public has kind of cottoned on to that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 9, Annie Lowrey, “Open Your Mind to Unicorn Meat”, in The Atlantic",
          "text": "In the late aughts, a number of entrepreneurs cottoned on to the idea of reducing emissions by producing fake meat that carnivores could love.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To realize; come to understand."
      ],
      "id": "en-cotton_on-en-verb-9JOZABl-",
      "links": [
        [
          "realize",
          "realize"
        ],
        [
          "come",
          "come"
        ],
        [
          "understand",
          "understand"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To realize; come to understand."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "cotton to"
        },
        {
          "word": "cotton on to"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "catch on"
        },
        {
          "word": "glom on"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cotton on"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cottons on",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cottoning on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cottoned on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cottoned on",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "cotton on (third-person singular simple present cottons on, present participle cottoning on, simple past and past participle cottoned on)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "cotton to"
    },
    {
      "word": "cotton on to"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrasal verbs",
        "English phrasal verbs with particle (on)",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 July 30, Rowena Mason, “Dominic Cummings said Tory MPs do not care about poor people or NHS”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "That is what most people in the country have thought about the Tory party for decades. […] Tory MPs largely do not care about these poorer people. They don’t care about the NHS. And the public has kind of cottoned on to that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 9, Annie Lowrey, “Open Your Mind to Unicorn Meat”, in The Atlantic",
          "text": "In the late aughts, a number of entrepreneurs cottoned on to the idea of reducing emissions by producing fake meat that carnivores could love.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To realize; come to understand."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "realize",
          "realize"
        ],
        [
          "come",
          "come"
        ],
        [
          "understand",
          "understand"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To realize; come to understand."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "catch on"
        },
        {
          "word": "glom on"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cotton on"
}