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
With her career exploding — perhaps a little too fast — her new fans have latched on hard.
—
Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2024
The hormone also can latch on to receptors on the vagus nerve—a long cranial nerve that shuttles messages between the brain and organs throughout the body.
—Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 25 June 2024
Critics of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are latching on to a new initialism dubiously similar to DEI.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 24 June 2024
At the same time, most of the genetic differences among the VC2 genes occur in the proteins that encode the legs, which latch on to these sugars.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for latch on 
Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2024
The hormone also can latch on to receptors on the vagus nerve—a long cranial nerve that shuttles messages between the brain and organs throughout the body.
—Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 25 June 2024
Critics of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are latching on to a new initialism dubiously similar to DEI.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 24 June 2024
At the same time, most of the genetic differences among the VC2 genes occur in the proteins that encode the legs, which latch on to these sugars.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for latch on
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'latch on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near latch on
Cite this Entry
“Latch on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/latch%20on. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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