get

[ get ]

/ gɛt /

verb (used with object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or got·ten; get·ting.

to receive or come to have possession, use, or enjoyment of: to get a birthday present; to get a pension.

to cause to be in one's possession or succeed in having available for one's use or enjoyment; obtain; acquire: to get a good price after bargaining; to get oil by drilling; to get information.

to go after, take hold of, and bring (something) for one's own or for another's purposes; fetch: Would you get the milk from the refrigerator for me?

to cause or cause to become, to do, to move, etc., as specified; effect: to get one's hair cut; to get a person drunk; to get a fire to burn; to get a dog out of a room.

to communicate or establish communication with over a distance; reach: You can always get me by telephone.

to hear or hear clearly: I didn't get your last name.

to acquire a mental grasp or command of; learn: to get a lesson.

to capture; seize: Get him before he escapes!

to receive as a punishment or sentence: to get a spanking; to get 20 years in jail.

to prevail on; influence or persuade: We'll get him to go with us.

to prepare; make ready: to get dinner.

(especially of animals) to beget.

Informal. to affect emotionally: Her pleas got me.

to hit, strike, or wound: The bullet got him in the leg.

Informal. to kill.

Informal. to take vengeance on: I'll get you yet!

to catch or be afflicted with; come down with or suffer from: He got malaria while living in the tropics. She gets butterflies before every performance.

Informal. to puzzle; irritate; annoy: Their silly remarks get me.

Informal. to understand; comprehend: I don't get the joke. This report may be crystal-clear to a scientist, but I don't get it.

verb (used without object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or got·ten; get·ting.

to come to a specified place; arrive; reach: to get home late.

to succeed, become enabled, or be permitted: You get to meet a lot of interesting people.

to become or to cause oneself to become as specified; reach a certain condition: to get angry; to get sick.

(used as an auxiliary verb followed by a past participle to form the passive): to get married; to get elected; to get hit by a car.

to succeed in coming, going, arriving at, visiting, etc. (usually followed by away, in, into, out, etc.): I don't get into town very often.

to bear, endure, or survive (usually followed by through or over): Can he get through another bad winter?

to earn money; gain.

Informal. to leave promptly; scram: He told us to get.

to start or enter upon the action of (followed by a present participle expressing action): to get moving; Get rolling.

noun

an offspring or the total of the offspring, especially of a male animal: the get of a stallion.

a return of a ball, as in tennis, that would normally have resulted in a point for the opponent.

British Slang.

something earned, as salary, profits, etc.: What's your week's get?
a child born out of wedlock.

Verb Phrases

get about,

to move about; be active: He gets about with difficulty since his illness.
to become known; spread: It was supposed to be a secret, but somehow it got about.
to be socially active: She's been getting about much more since her family moved to the city.

Also get around.

get across,

to make or become understandable; communicate: to get a lesson across to students.
to be convincing about; impress upon others: The fire chief got across forcefully the fact that turning in a false alarm is a serious offense.

get ahead, to be successful, as in business or society: She got ahead by sheer determination.

get ahead of,

to move forward of, as in traveling: The taxi got ahead of her after the light changed.
to surpass; outdo: He refused to let anyone get ahead of him in business.

get along,

to go away; leave.
get on.

get around,

to circumvent; outwit.
to ingratiate oneself with (someone) through flattery or cajolery.
to travel from place to place; circulate: I don't get around much anymore.
get about.

get at,

to reach; touch: to stretch in order to get at a top shelf.
to suggest, hint at, or imply; intimate: What are you getting at?
to discover; determine: to get at the root of a problem.
Informal. to influence by surreptitious or illegal means; bribe: The gangsters couldn't get at the mayor.

get away,

to escape; flee: He tried to get away, but the crowd was too dense.
to start out; leave: The racehorses got away from the starting gate.

get away with, to perpetrate or accomplish without detection or punishment: Some people lie and cheat and always seem to get away with it.

get by,

to succeed in going past: to get by a police barricade.
to manage to exist, survive, continue in business, etc., in spite of difficulties.
to evade the notice of: He doesn't let much get by him.

get down,

to bring or come down; descend: The kitten climbed the tree, but then couldn't get down again.
to concentrate; attend: to get down to the matter at hand.
to depress; discourage; fatigue: Nothing gets me down so much as a rainy day.
to swallow: The pill was so large that he couldn't get it down.
to relax and enjoy oneself completely; be uninhibited in one's enjoyment: getting down with a bunch of old friends.

get in,

to go into a place; enter: He forgot his key and couldn't get in.
to arrive; come: They both got in on the same train.
to become associated with: He got in with a bad crowd.
to be chosen or accepted, as for office, membership, etc.: As secretary of the club, his friend made sure that he got in.
to become implicated in: By embezzling money to pay his gambling debts quickly, he was getting in further and further.

get off,

to escape the consequences of or punishment for one's actions.
to help (someone) escape punishment: A good lawyer might get you off.
to begin a journey; leave: He got off on the noon flight.
to leave (a train, plane, etc.); dismount from (a horse); alight.
to tell (a joke); express (an opinion): The comedian got off a couple of good ones.
Informal. to have the effrontery: Where does he get off telling me how to behave?
Slang: Vulgar. to experience orgasm.
to experience or cause to experience a high from or as if from a drug.
to cause to feel pleasure, enthusiasm, or excitement: a new rock group that gets everyone off.

get on/along,

to make progress; proceed; advance.
to have sufficient means to manage, survive, or fare.
to be on good terms; agree: She simply can't get on with her brothers.
to advance in age: He is getting on in years.

get out,

to leave (often followed by of): Get out of here! We had to get out of the bus at San Antonio.
to become publicly known: We mustn't let this story get out.
to withdraw or retire (often followed by of): He decided to get out of the dry goods business.
to produce or complete: Let's get this work out!

get over,

to recover from: to get over an illness.
get across.

get through,

to succeed, as in meeting, reaching, or contacting by telephone (usually followed by to): I tried to call you last night, but I couldn't get through.
to complete; finish: How he ever got through college is a mystery.
to make oneself understood: One simply cannot get through to her.

get to,

to get in touch or into communication with; contact: It was too late by the time he got to the authorities.
Informal. to make an impression on; affect: This music really gets to you.
to begin: When he gets to telling stories about the war, there's no stopping him.

Idioms for get

get back,

to come back; return: When will you get back?
to recover; regain: He got back his investment with interest.
to be revenged: She waited for a chance to get back at her accuser.

get even. even¹(def 26).

get going,

to begin; act: They wanted to get going on the construction of the house.
to increase one's speed; make haste: If we don't get going, we'll never arrive in time.

get it, Informal.

to be punished or reprimanded: You'll get it for breaking that vase!
to understand or grasp something: This is just between us, get it?

get it off, Slang: Vulgar. to experience orgasm.

get it on,

Informal. to work or perform with satisfying harmony or energy or develop a strong rapport, as in music: a rock group really getting it on with the audience.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.

get it up, Slang: Vulgar. to achieve an erection of the penis.

get off on, Slang. to become enthusiastic about or excited by: After years of indifference, she's getting off on baseball.

get round. get around.

get the lead out. lead²(def 15).

get there, to reach one's goal; succeed: He wanted to be a millionaire but he died before he got there.

get together,

to accumulate; gather: to get together a portfolio of 20 stocks.
to congregate; meet: The alumnae chapter gets together twice a year.
to come to an accord; agree: They simply couldn't get together on matters of policy.

get up,

to sit up or stand; arise.
to rise from bed.
to ascend or mount.
to prepare; arrange; organize: to get up an exhibit.
to draw upon; marshal; rouse: to get up one's courage.
to acquire a knowledge of.
(to a horse) go! go ahead! go faster!
to dress, as in a costume or disguise: She got herself up as an astronaut.
to produce in a specified style, as a book: It was got up in brown leather with gold endpapers.

has/have got,

to possess or own; have: She's got a new car. Have you got the tickets?
must (followed by an infinitive): He's got to get to a doctor right away.
to suffer from: Have you got a cold?

Origin of get

1150–1200; (v.) Middle English geten < Old Norse geta to obtain, beget; cognate with Old English -gietan (> Middle English yeten), German -gessen, in vergessen to forget; (noun) Middle English: something gotten, offspring, derivative of the v.

SYNONYMS FOR get

1, 2 Get, obtain, acquire, procure, secure imply gaining possession of something. Get may apply to coming into possession in any manner, and either voluntarily or not. Obtain suggests putting forth effort to gain possession, and acquire stresses the possessing after an (often prolonged) effort. Procure suggests the method of obtaining, as that of search or choice. Secure, considered in bad taste as a would-be-elegant substitute for get, is, however, when used with discrimination, a perfectly proper word. It suggests making possession sure and safe, after obtaining something by competition or the like.

2 win, gain.

7 apprehend, grasp.

10 induce, dispose.

12 engender.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR get ON THESAURUS.COM

usage note for get

For nearly 400 years, forms of get have been used with a following past participle to form the passive voice: She got engaged when she was 19. He won't get accepted with those grades. This use of get rather than of forms of to be in the passive is found today chiefly in speech and informal writing.
In British English got is the regular past participle of get, and gotten survives only in a few set phrases, such as ill-gotten gains. In American English gotten, although occasionally criticized, is an alternative standard past participle in most senses, especially in the senses “to receive” or “to acquire”: I have gotten (or got ) all that I ever hoped for.
Have or has got in the sense “must” has been in use since the early 19th century; often the have or has is contracted: You've got to carry your passport at all times. The use of have (or has ) got in the sense of “to possess” goes back to the 15th century; it is also frequently contracted: She's got a master's degree in biology. These uses are occasionally criticized as redundant on the grounds that have alone expresses the meaning adequately, but they are well established and fully standard in all varieties of speech and writing. In some contexts in American English, substituting gotten for got produces a change in meaning: She's got ( possesses ) a new job. She's gotten ( has aquired ) a new job. He's got to ( must ) attend the wedding. He's gotten to ( has been allowed or enabled to ) attend. The children have got ( are suffering from ) the measles. The children have gotten ( have caught ) the measles. The use of got without have or has to mean “must” ( I got to buy a new suit ) is characteristic of the most relaxed, informal speech and does not occur in edited writing except in representations of speech. Gotta is a pronunciation spelling representing this use.

pronunciation note for get

The pronunciation

[git] /gɪt/ for get has existed since the 16th century. The same change is exhibited in [kin] /kɪn/ for can and [yit] /yɪt/ for yet. The pronunciation

[git] /gɪt/ is not regional and occurs in all parts of the country. It is most common as an unstressed syllable: Let's get going! [lets git-goh-ing] /ˈlɛts gɪtˈgoʊ ɪŋ/. In educated speech the pronunciation

[git] /gɪt/ in stressed syllables is rare and sometimes criticized. When get is an imperative meaning “leave immediately,” the pronunciation is usually facetious: Now get! [nou git] /ˌnaʊ ˈgɪt/.

OTHER WORDS FROM get

get·ta·ble, get·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby get

gesticulation, gestosis, gesture, gesualdo, gesundheit, get, get a bang out of, get a break, get a charge, get a dirty look, get a dose of one's own medicine

British Dictionary definitions for get to (1 of 2)

GeT

abbreviation for

Greenwich Electronic Time

British Dictionary definitions for get to (2 of 2)

get

/ (ɡɛt) /

verb gets, getting, got (ɡɒt) or got or esp US gotten (mainly tr)

to come into possession of; receive or earn

to bring or fetch

to contract or be affected by he got a chill at the picnic

to capture or seize the police finally got him

(also intr) to become or cause to become or act as specified to get a window open; get one's hair cut; get wet

(intr; foll by a preposition or adverbial particle) to succeed in going, coming, leaving, etc get off the bus

(takes an infinitive) to manage or contrive how did you get to be captain?

to make ready or prepare to get a meal

to hear, notice, or understand I didn't get your meaning

US and Canadian informal to learn or master by study

(intr often foll by to) to come (to) or arrive (at) we got home safely; to get to London

to catch or enter to get a train

to induce or persuade get him to leave at once

to reach by calculation add 2 and 2 and you will get 4

to receive (a broadcast signal)

to communicate with (a person or place), as by telephone

(also intr foll by to) informal to have an emotional effect (on) that music really gets me

informal to annoy or irritate her high voice gets me

informal to bring a person into a difficult position from which he or she cannot escape

informal to puzzle; baffle

informal to hit the blow got him in the back

informal to be revenged on, esp by killing

US slang

(foll by to) to gain access (to a person) with the purpose of bribing him
(often foll by to) to obtain access (to someone) and kill or silence him

informal to have the better of your extravagant habits will get you in the end

(intr; foll by present participle) informal to begin get moving

(used as a command) informal go! leave now!

archaic to beget or conceive

get even with See even 1 (def. 15)

get it or get it in the neck informal to be reprimanded or punished severely

get with it slang to allow oneself to respond to new ideas, styles, etc

get with child archaic to make pregnant

noun

rare the act of begetting

rare something begotten; offspring

British slang a variant of git

informal (in tennis, squash, etc) a successful return of a shot that was difficult to reach

See also get about, get across, get ahead, get along, get at, get away, get back, get by, get down, get in, get into, get off, get on, get onto, get out, get over, get round, get through, get-together, get up, got, gotten

Derived forms of get

getable or gettable, adjective

Word Origin for get

Old English gietan; related to Old Norse geta to get, learn, Old High German bigezzan to obtain

usage for get

The use of off after get as in I got this chair off an antique dealer is acceptable in conversation, but should not be used in formal writing

Idioms and Phrases with get to (1 of 2)

get to

Arrive at, reach, as in When we get to the store we'll talk to the manager.

Begin doing something or start to deal with something. For example, We got to reminiscing about college days, or Let's get to this business right now. [Mid-1800s]

Bribe someone, as in We're sure the dealer got to one of the narcotics agents. [Slang; 1920s]

Influence or affect, especially adversely, as in This loud music really gets to me, or Mother's crying always gets to him. [Colloquial; 1960s] Also see get under someone's skin.

Idioms and Phrases with get to (2 of 2)

get

In addition to the idioms beginning with get

get a bang out of
get about
get a break
get a charge
get across
get a dirty look
get a fix
get a fix on
get a free hand
get after
get a grip on
get a hand
get a handle on
get ahead
get a head start
get a kick out of
get a life
get a line on
get a load of
get along
get a move on
get an in with
get another guess
get a rise out of
get around
get at
get a thing about
get away
get away with
get a word in edgewise
get back
get back at
get back to
get behind
get better
get busy
get by
get cracking
get credit for
get down
get down to brass tacks
get going
get goose pimples
get gray hair from
get hold of
get in
get in a snit
get in a stew
get in bad with
get in on
get in one's hair
get in someone's face
get in the way
get into
get into bed with
get into hot water
get into one's head
get into the act
get into the swing of things
get into trouble
get in touch
get involved
get in with
get it
get it on
get lost
get mileage out of
get nowhere
get off
get off on
get off one's chest
get off one's tail
get off on the wrong foot
get off scot-free
get off someone's back
get off the dime
get off the ground
get off the hook
get on
get one down
get one's
get one's
get one's act together
get one's bearings
get one's comeuppance
get one's ducks in a row
get one's feet on the ground
get one's feet wet
get one's fill
get one's hands dirty
get one's hands on
get one's head examined
get one's money's worth
get one's own back
get one's teeth into
get one's walking papers
get one's way
get one's wires crossed
get on someone's good side
get on someone's nerves
get on the bandwagon
get on the stick
get on with it
get out
get out from under
get out of
get out of one's face
get out of one's system
get out of someone's sight
get out of the way
get out while the getting is good
get over
get physical
get ready
get real
get religion
get rid of
get right
get rolling
get round
get set
get sick
get someone's back up
get someone's goat
get someone's number
get someone wrong
get something into one's head
get something on someone
get somewhere
get straight
get stuffed
get the advantage of
get the air
get the ax
get the ball rolling
get the better of
get the business
get the can
get the drift
get the drop on
get the feel of
get the goods on
get the hang of
get theirs
get the jump on
get the lead out
get the message
get the most out of
get the nod
get the picture
get there
get the runaround
get the sack
get the show on the road
get the upper hand
get the worst of it
get through
get through one's head
get through to
get to
get to first base
get together
get to one's feet
get to the bottom of
get to the heart of
get to the point
get tough with
get under someone's skin
get up
get up one's nerve
get up on the wrong side of bed
get up steam
get used to
get well
get what's coming to one
get wind of
get wise to
get with it

also see:

be (get) busted
come and get it
dip (get) one's toes into
early bird catches (gets) the worm
give as good as one gets
ground floor, get in on the
it takes getting used to
lay (get) one's hands on
marching orders, get one's
play hard to get
squeaky wheel gets the grease
tell someone where to get off
when the going gets tough
you get what you pay for

Also see underbecomegivehave.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

get

verb (used with object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or got·ten; get·ting.

verb (used without object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or got·ten; get·ting.

noun

Verb Phrases

Idioms for get

Origin of get

SYNONYMS FOR get

usage note for get

pronunciation note for get

OTHER WORDS FROM get

Words nearby get

British Dictionary definitions for get to (1 of 2)

abbreviation for

British Dictionary definitions for get to (2 of 2)

verb gets, getting, got (ɡɒt) or got or esp US gotten (mainly tr)

noun

Derived forms of get

Word Origin for get

usage for get

Idioms and Phrases with get to (1 of 2)

Idioms and Phrases with get to (2 of 2)

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

get

verb (used with object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or got·ten; get·ting.

verb (used without object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or got·ten; get·ting.

noun

Verb Phrases

Idioms for get

Origin of get

SYNONYMS FOR get

usage note for get

pronunciation note for get

OTHER WORDS FROM get

Words nearby get

Words related to get to

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for get to (1 of 2)

abbreviation for

British Dictionary definitions for get to (2 of 2)

verb gets, getting, got (ɡɒt) or got or esp US gotten (mainly tr)

noun

Derived forms of get

Word Origin for get

usage for get

Idioms and Phrases with get to (1 of 2)

Idioms and Phrases with get to (2 of 2)

British Dictionary definitions for get to (1 of 2)