catch someone's drift

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catch someone's drift (third-person singular simple present catches someone's drift, present participle catching someone's drift, simple past and past participle caught someone's drift)

1. (idiomatic) To understand the meaning or implications of someone’s pronouncement.

   I see you catch my drift.

   I caught her drift when she looked at me from across the noisy lunchroom and went over to her table.

   • 1986, James Ellroy, Killer on the Road, Avon Books, →ISBN, page 28:

     I was a burglary detective for three years before I joined the Speaker's Bureau, and you might say I managed to acquire a few things at a five-finger discount, if you catch my drift.

• pick up what someone is putting down
• get someone's point
• drive at