1
as in to realize
to come to an awareness of
she caught on to the fact that they were planning a surprise party
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to know
to have a clear idea of
he finally caught on to the concept of phototaxis
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catch on (to)
Verb
-
On the new Foxes in the Snow, a solo album that benches his longtime backing band the 400 Unit in favor of just his plaintive voice and Martin acoustic guitar, Isbell seems to realize that not every song needs to be an opus.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2025 -
The moment an owner realized her dog isn't alone in his crate has gone viral on TikTok.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
What feels new is the expectation, on the part of both makers and audiences, that there is such a thing as knowing definitively what a work of art means or stands for, aesthetically and politically.—
Namwali Serpell,
The New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2025
-
Repressive autocrats around the world know this full well.—
Eli Amdur,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
The feature-length doc will explore how Falco, part of the largest species of owl in the world, was discovered missing from his cage at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
4 Mar. 2025
-
One of their dogs, a German shepherd, was discovered dead 10 to 15 feet from Betsy, in a kennel crate in a closet.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
4 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
The real stories of the game and its people from someone who lives it and understands it better than any member of the media who has never played the game ever could.—
Jon Krawczynski,
The Athletic,
8 Mar. 2025
-
To better understand these temperature swings, the researchers plugged this data into a computer model they fine-tuned to match the spacecraft's landing conditions, including local topography and illumination.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Seattle saw some of Darnold’s best work up close in Minnesota’s Week 16 win at Lumen Field.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
The Athletic,
11 Mar. 2025
-
Houston, which used just three reserves the majority of the night before emptying its bench in the final minutes, saw its bench total 25.—
Jason Beede,
Orlando Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
His annual press conference, to be held later in the week, will be closely watched to decipher China’s stance on U.S.-China relations under Trump.—
TIME,
TIME,
3 Mar. 2025
-
Scientists had long thought that deciphering those qualities — collectively known as prosody — happened in the superior temporal gyrus, an area of the brain associated with speech perception.—
Paul Smaglik,
Discover Magazine,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Harris recognizes travel’s ability to create meaningful connections and a sense of belonging.—
Melissa Noel,
Essence,
4 Mar. 2025
-
Get ahead of a tween’s difficult feelings by recognizing the early signs of emotional distress, such as disruption in sleep and less interest in their hobbies, and reroute all-or-nothing thoughts, suggests Daniel Huy, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at Hackensack Meridian Health.—
Sherri Gordon,
Parents,
4 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
When people hear about large groups of people in class action cases, those people are typically identified in the discovery process, where the business will produce information and documents identifying people who have been similarly harmed.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
-
One bit of gossip that was heard around league circles is that the Jets are possibly interested in trading up with No.1 with the Titans to select Miami quarterback Cam Ward.—
Antwan Staley,
New York Daily News,
3 Mar. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Catch on (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catch%20on%20%28to%29. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share