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
Recent Examples on the Web
Clearly this is a complicated issue, and will definitely give me pause the next time my baby latches on.
—
Melissa Willets, Parents, 18 Dec. 2025
Social-media-influencer culture also latched on to the phrase for its own attentional ends, as did brands, the indefatigable scavengers.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for latch on
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Melissa Willets, Parents, 18 Dec. 2025
Social-media-influencer culture also latched on to the phrase for its own attentional ends, as did brands, the indefatigable scavengers.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for latch on
Cite this Entry
“Latch on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/latch%20on. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
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