Search

[get] /gɛt/

verb (used with object), got or (Archaic) gat; got or gotten; getting.
1.
to receive or come to have possession, use, or enjoyment of:
to get a birthday present; to get a pension.
2.
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.
3.
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?
4.
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.
5.
to communicate or establish communication with over a distance; reach:
You can always get me by telephone.
6.
to hear or hear clearly:
I didn’t get your last name.
7.
to acquire a mental grasp or command of; learn:
to get a lesson.
8.
to capture; seize:
Get him before he escapes!
9.
to receive as a punishment or sentence:
to get a spanking; to get 20 years in jail.
10.
to prevail on; influence or persuade:
We’ll get him to go with us.
11.
to prepare; make ready:
to get dinner.
12.
(especially of animals) to beget.
13.
Informal. to affect emotionally:
Her pleas got me.
14.
to hit, strike, or wound:
The bullet got him in the leg.
15.
Informal. to kill.
16.
Informal. to take vengeance on:
I’ll get you yet!
17.
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.
18.
Informal. to puzzle; irritate; annoy:
Their silly remarks get me.
19.
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 gotten; getting.
20.
to come to a specified place; arrive; reach:
to get home late.
21.
to succeed, become enabled, or be permitted:
You get to meet a lot of interesting people.
22.
to become or to cause oneself to become as specified; reach a certain condition:
to get angry; to get sick.
23.
(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.
24.
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.
25.
to bear, endure, or survive (usually followed by through or over):
Can he get through another bad winter?
26.
to earn money; gain.
27.
Informal. to leave promptly; scram:
He told us to get.
28.
to start or enter upon the action of (followed by a present participle expressing action):
to get moving; Get rolling.
noun
29.
an offspring or the total of the offspring, especially of a male animal:
the get of a stallion.
30.
a return of a ball, as in tennis, that would normally have resulted in a point for the opponent.
31.
British Slang.

Verb phrases
32.
get about,

Also, get around.
33.
get across,

34.
get ahead, to be successful, as in business or society:
She got ahead by sheer determination.
35.
get ahead of,

36.
get along,

37.
get around,

38.
get at,

39.
get away,

40.
get away with, to perpetrate or accomplish without detection or punishment:
Some people lie and cheat and always seem to get away with it.
41.
get by,

42.
get down,

43.
get in,

44.
get off,

45.
get on/along,

46.
get out,

47.
get over,

48.
get through,

49.
get to,

Idioms
50.
get back,

51.
get even. 1 (def 26).
52.
get going,

53.
get it, Informal.

54.
get it off, Slang: Vulgar. to experience orgasm.
55.
get it on,

56.
get it up, Slang: Vulgar. to achieve an erection of the penis.
57.
get off on, Slang. to become enthusiastic about or excited by:
After years of indifference, she’s getting off on baseball.
58.
get round. .
59.
get the lead out. 2 (def 15).
60.
get there, to reach one’s goal; succeed:
He wanted to be a millionaire but he died before he got there.
61.
get together,

62.
get up,

63.
has / have got,

/ɡɛt/
verb (mainly transitive) gets, getting, got (ɡɒt), got especially (US) gotten
1.
to come into possession of; receive or earn
2.
to bring or fetch
3.
to contract or be affected by: he got a chill at the picnic
4.
to capture or seize: the police finally got him
5.
(also intransitive) to become or cause to become or act as specified: to get a window open, get one’s hair cut, get wet
6.
(intransitive; foll by a preposition or adverbial particle) to succeed in going, coming, leaving, etc: get off the bus
7.
(takes an infinitive) to manage or contrive: how did you get to be captain?
8.
to make ready or prepare: to get a meal
9.
to hear, notice, or understand: I didn’t get your meaning
10.
(US & Canadian, informal) to learn or master by study
11.
(intransitive) often foll by to. to come (to) or arrive (at): we got home safely, to get to London
12.
to catch or enter: to get a train
13.
to induce or persuade: get him to leave at once
14.
to reach by calculation: add 2 and 2 and you will get 4
15.
to receive (a broadcast signal)
16.
to communicate with (a person or place), as by telephone
17.
(informal) (also intransitive) foll by to. to have an emotional effect (on): that music really gets me
18.
(informal) to annoy or irritate: her high voice gets me
19.
(informal) to bring a person into a difficult position from which he or she cannot escape
20.
(informal) to puzzle; baffle
21.
(informal) to hit: the blow got him in the back
22.
(informal) to be revenged on, esp by killing
23.
(US, slang)

24.
(informal) to have the better of: your extravagant habits will get you in the end
25.
(intransitive; foll by present participle) (informal) to begin: get moving
26.
(used as a command) (informal) go! leave now!
27.
(archaic) to beget or conceive
28.
get even with, See even1 (sense 15)
29.
(informal) get it, get it in the neck, to be reprimanded or punished severely
30.
(slang) get with it, to allow oneself to respond to new ideas, styles, etc
31.
(archaic) get with child, to make pregnant
noun
32.
(rare) the act of begetting
33.
(rare) something begotten; offspring
34.
(Brit, slang) a variant of git
35.
(informal) (in tennis, squash, etc) a successful return of a shot that was difficult to reach
abbreviation
1.
Greenwich Electronic Time
v.

c.1200, from Old Norse geta “to obtain, reach; to beget; to guess right” (past tense gatum, past participle getenn), from Proto-Germanic *getan (cf. Old Swedish gissa “to guess,” literally “to try to get”), from PIE root *ghend- “seize, take” (cf. Greek khandanein “to hold, contain,” Lithuanian godetis “be eager,” second element in Latin prehendere “to grasp, seize,” Welsh gannu “to hold, contain,” Old Church Slavonic gadati “to guess, suppose”). Meaning “to seize mentally, grasp” is from 1892.

Old English, as well as Dutch and Frisian, had the root only in compounds (e.g. begietan “to beget,” see beget; forgietan “to forget,” see forget). Vestiges of Old English cognate *gietan remain obliquely in past participle gotten and original past tense gat. The word and phrases built on it take up 29 columns in the OED 2nd edition. Related: Getting.

Get wind of “become acquainted with” is from 1840, from earlier to get wind “to get out, become known” (1722). Get out, as a command to go away, is from 1711. Get-rich-quick (adj.) attested from 1904, first in O. Henry. To get out of hand originally (1765) meant “to advance beyond the need for guidance;” sense of “to break free, run wild” is from 1892, from horses. To get on (someone’s) nerves is attested by 1970.
n.

early 14c., “offspring,” from get (v.). Meaning “what is got, booty” is from 14c.

noun

verb