cotton (on)to (someone or something)
1. To like someone or something; to view someone or something favorably. It takes me a while to cotton to new people—I have to get to know them first. After we explained our plan again, the rest of the group seemed to cotton onto it.
2. To begin to understand something. Thanks for explaining that concept to me—I think I'm cottoning onto it now.
cotton onto
v. To come to understand something: I finally cottoned onto the new method.