latch on

phrasal verb

latched on; latching on; latches on
British, informal
: to begin to understand something
What he was saying was complicated, so it took me a while to latch on.

Examples of latch on in a Sentence

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Earlier this week, Kimmel latched on to Trump’s inability to tell the difference between a cognitive assessment test and an IQ test. Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025 Jeffries’s decision to endorse Mamdani will likely open the floodgates for GOP messaging, particularly as Republicans have latched on to the fact that Mamdani, a socialist, is the Democrats’ nominee. Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 24 Oct. 2025 Westbrook, a Long Beach native, latched on with his other hometown team, the LA Clippers, to finish out the 2022-23 season. Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025 When a good deal is found, though, Californians seem to latch on and stay put. Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 17 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for latch on

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Cite this Entry

“Latch on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/latch%20on. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.

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