"latch on" meaning in English

See latch on in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: latches on [present, singular, third-person], latching on [participle, present], latched on [participle, past], latched on [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} latch on (third-person singular simple present latches on, present participle latching on, simple past and past participle latched on)
  1. To grasp firmly; to become attached to. Translations (to grasp; to become attached to): festhalten (German), ergreifen (German), fassen (German), erfassen (German), packen (German), anhängen (German), einklinken (German), andocken (German), anlegen (German) Translations (to grasp; to understand): kapieren (German), verstehen (German), mitkriegen (German), erfassen (German)
    Sense id: en-latch_on-en-verb-ibCEJ2Nd Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "on", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 55 45 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "on": 51 49 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 52 48 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 55 45 Disambiguation of 'to grasp; to become attached to': 92 8 Disambiguation of 'to grasp; to understand': 60 40
  2. To begin to understand something.
    Sense id: en-latch_on-en-verb--qfcL962 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "on", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with German translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 55 45 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "on": 51 49 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 52 48 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 55 45

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "latches on",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "latching on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "latched on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "latched on",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "latch on (third-person singular simple present latches on, present participle latching on, simple past and past participle latched on)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "55 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"on\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "53 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "55 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              8,
              16
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2006, Ariana Franklin, City of Shadows, page 68:",
          "text": "\"She'll latch on quick when she remembers. It'll impress the customers. And open up the American market.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To grasp firmly; to become attached to."
      ],
      "id": "en-latch_on-en-verb-ibCEJ2Nd",
      "links": [
        [
          "grasp",
          "grasp"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "festhalten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "ergreifen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "fassen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "erfassen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "packen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "anhängen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "einklinken"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "andocken"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
          "word": "anlegen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
          "word": "kapieren"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
          "word": "verstehen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
          "word": "mitkriegen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
          "word": "erfassen"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "55 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"on\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "53 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "55 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To begin to understand something."
      ],
      "id": "en-latch_on-en-verb--qfcL962",
      "links": [
        [
          "understand",
          "understand"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "latch on"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"on\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with German translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "latches on",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "latching on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "latched on",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "latched on",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "latch on (third-person singular simple present latches on, present participle latching on, simple past and past participle latched on)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              8,
              16
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2006, Ariana Franklin, City of Shadows, page 68:",
          "text": "\"She'll latch on quick when she remembers. It'll impress the customers. And open up the American market.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To grasp firmly; to become attached to."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "grasp",
          "grasp"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To begin to understand something."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "understand",
          "understand"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "festhalten"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "ergreifen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "fassen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "erfassen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "packen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "anhängen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "einklinken"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "andocken"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to become attached to",
      "word": "anlegen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
      "word": "kapieren"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
      "word": "verstehen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
      "word": "mitkriegen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "to grasp; to understand",
      "word": "erfassen"
    }
  ],
  "word": "latch on"
}

Download raw JSONL data for latch on meaning in English (2.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.