"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 formed with \"on\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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 formed with \"on\"",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "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": "quote"
        },
        {
          "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": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "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"
}