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.
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 byaway, in, into, out, etc. ).
I don't get into town very often.
to bear, endure, or survive (usually followed by through orover ).
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.
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.
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 through
to succeed, as in meeting, reaching, or contacting by telephone (usually followed byto ).
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 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 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 along
to go away; leave.
get out
to leave (often followed byof ).
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 byof ).
He decided to get out of the dry goods business.
to produce or complete.
Let's get this work out!
get about Also get around
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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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 away with to perpetrate or accomplish without detection or punishment.
Some people lie and cheat and always seem to get away with it.
get ahead to be successful, as in business or society.
She got ahead by sheer determination.
get over
to recover from.
to get over an illness.
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. even.
get round. get around.
get it off, to experience orgasm.
get there, to reach one's goal; succeed.
He wanted to be a millionaire but he died before he got there.
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,
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 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.
get off on, to become enthusiastic about or excited by.
After years of indifference, she's getting off on baseball.
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?
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 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 it up, to achieve an erection of the penis.
get the lead out. lead.
a legal document, executed by a rabbi or Jewish court of law, dissolving the marriage bond between husband and wife.
a divorce granted in accordance with Jewish law.
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
informal to learn or master by study
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
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
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
informal (intr; foll by present participle) to begin
get moving
informal (used as a command) go! leave now!
archaic to beget or conceive
See even 1
informal to be reprimanded or punished severely
slang to allow oneself to respond to new ideas, styles, etc
archaic to make pregnant
rare the act of begetting
rare something begotten; offspring
slang a variant of git
informal (in tennis, squash, etc) a successful return of a shot that was difficult to reach
The pronunciation for get has existed since the 16th century. The same change is exhibited in for can and for yet. The pronunciation is not regional and occurs in all parts of the country. It is most common as an unstressed syllable: Let's get going! . In educated speech the pronunciation in stressed syllables is rare and sometimes criticized. When get is an imperative meaning “leave immediately,” the pronunciation is usually facetious: Now 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 acquired) 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.
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
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.
First recorded in 1150–1200; (verb) Middle English geten from Old Norse geta “to obtain, beget”; cognate with Old English -gietan (as in forgi(e)tan forget ( def. ) ), German -gessen (as in vergessen “to forget”); (noun) Middle English: “something gotten, offspring,” derivative of the verb
Get is one of those little words with a hundred applications. A common meaning is fetch, as in, go get a dictionary off the shelf. Get means to catch, or grab. If you get a cold, someone passed it on to you. If you get an idea, that means you understand it. Get can also be used to talk about directions. If you want someone to get out of a room, you want them to leave. If you sleep on the sidewalk, the police will make you get up. Get is also short for beget, or make children. How many children will you get?
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But it can provide a roadmap for how, and when, it expects to get inflation back down to its 2% annual target.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
“The most exciting thing is you get to put helmets on,” said first-year Whittier coach Lorenzo Hernandez, who used to coach at Garfield in the City Section.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
“It can get quite expensive,” said Moynihan, the Detroit Golf Club agronomist, of repairs from improper chemical usage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Many service sector workers find that they only get shifts when an algorithm says their labor is required – leaving their schedules and earnings unpredictable.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
Once these bacteria get established in the body, they reproduce wildly.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Then he says, ‘We must be keerful, For the cider’s gittin low.’
From Time ● Oct. 15, 2015
When the butchering is over Then the farmer feels so-so; But he’s always sort of worried, Fears the cider’s gittin low.
From Time ● Oct. 15, 2015
Which, as she was born in the Bronx, is pronounced "We gittin they!"
From The Guardian ● Aug. 31, 2014
“Hush, now. Luster gone to git de surrey en take you to de graveyard. We aint gwine risk gittin yo cap,” she said.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
“Listen to me, Jeth; you’re gittin to be a sizable boy. There’s goin’ to be a lot of things in the years ahead that you’ll have to stand.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
It’s where helping each other gets a little more formal structure.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
"When the weather gets good, the lake is closed. It's like having an amusement park and not opening it," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
But the inability to convert means the trade would leave them exposed to big losses if the premium gets even bigger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
"When you create a vacuum, it's oftentimes the case that the vacuum gets filled," said Daco.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Maybe,” I whispered to Betsie, “only a molecule or two really gets through that little pinhole—and then in the air it expands!”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The 37-year-old star appeared onstage wearing a traditional Korean hat known as a "gat", featured in Netflix's animated megahit "KPop Demon Hunters".
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2025
Sussy’s second defining feature is his love of hats, namely a tall, jaunty gat, similar to the ones that the Saja Boys wear in the Underworld and in their performance of “Your Idol.”
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2025
In this Bonnie & Clyde, female ambition is more dangerous than a loaded gat.
From Slate ● Dec. 6, 2013
As Bogart aged, he lost his defiance, leaving Warner Brothers for Columbia and trading his gat for a bow tie.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2010
I needed food sadly, while even worse than hunger was the thirst that presently gat hold of me.
From The Coming of the King by Hocking, James
It was, of course, trading Jared Verse for Garrett that got Donald’s wheels grinding, McVay said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
"They got a big win electing Mamdani mayor of New York City, but also, it's New York City," said Adrian Hemond, a political strategist in Michigan.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Then, when McLean missed with a center-cut fastball, Tucker got all of it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
"So it's always going to be a bit of a challenge, but sometimes you've got to just take it on the chin, keep it stepping and it'll all be all right."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Okay, remember the first time you played Grace and got through an entire piece of music without any mistakes?”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The novel’s two main characters could have gotten lost amid all this color and detail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
If you’ve gotten two MMR doses, you’re well protected.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
With stops in Montreal, Mexico City, Orlando and Washington, the tour has gotten bigger with the partnership of EDM promoter Insomniac but Lyman insists that the soul of it remains the same.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
If he had amassed the same number of records, skateboard decks or vintage gaming consoles — all fire hazards — would he have gotten the same eviction warning?
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
I knew all too well that once Daisy had gotten into one of her Red Cross nursing spells, it was ridiculous to even think of trying to argue her out of it.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
“When workers feel isolated, they don’t build community. The first step of of fighting back is getting to know each other, getting to talk to each other.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Burnham went on to say, "I just think what I most need to do is get Britain focused on getting the country back where it should be, getting it working."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
"We're now getting a better understanding of unappreciated sources of genetic diversity that may explain how some inbred species can still respond to their environment."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
"The next step will be getting lithium batteries in Zimbabwe," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
After she died, I wanted to pay tribute to her by getting locs just like her.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
