to cotton on to - idiom meaning?

Question

What is the meaning of "to cotton on to" idiom?

Answer 1

 

Idiom Conjugations:

 

Answer 2

Gerund Form of the Idiom:

Cottoning on to what is really going on can be useful.
 

Answer 3

Idiom Usage:

To cotton on to is most often used informally.
 

Answer 4

 

Idiom Scenario 3:

cotton on to  

Answer 5

Idiom Scenario 2:

Two students are talking about their calculus class ...

Student 1:  How are you doing with the calculus class?
Student 2: I'm struggling.  It's really difficult.  I don't really understand the material yet.
Student 1:  I discovered some really good practice exercises in the back of the textbook.  If you take your time and work through the exercises, you will slowly cotton on to differential equations.
Student 2:  Thanks for the tip.

Answer 6

Idiom Scenario 1:

Two friends are talking ...

Friend 1:  What's been going on with you and your boyfriend?
Friend 2: I ended the relationship.
Friend 1:  That's too bad.
Friend 2:  He was cheating on me but I didn't realize what was going on for months.  He was avoiding my phone calls and only seeing me once a week.  He seemed distracted and not very interested in me anymore.
Friend 1:  But you finally came to understand that he was seeing another woman?
Friend 2:  Yes.  I cottoned on to that fact when I caught him kissing the other woman.

Answer 7

Idiom Definition:

"to cotton on to"

to understand something

Synonyms: apprehend, catch, deduce, discern, distinguish, fathom, find, get, grasp, infer, interpret, know, learn, penetrate, perceive, realize, recognize, register, see, sense