To apprehend, to grasp the point.
1884. “He Didn’t Catch On to the Pronunciation.”—Head-line in Cambridge (Mass.) Tribune, July 18. (N.E.D.)
1888. The managers of the Boston Globe have a faculty of catching on, as the boys say.—Peabody Reporter, n.d. (Farmer).
1902. “Blame my skin ef the men folks weren’t a darned sight oftener in my grocery, sittin’ on barrils and histin’ in their reg’lar corn juice, than ever any of you be here—with all these modern improvements.” “Ye don’t catch on, any of you,” returned Wynbrook, impatiently.—F. Bret Harte, ‘Prosper’s Old Mother,’ Harper’s Mag., cvi. p. 733/1. (April)
