get a handle on

Idioms and Phrases

see under get a fix on .

Example Sentences

Tucked into a green-sounding federal recycling bill filed last month is a wish list, not of tough new mandates to get a handle on the world’s plastic’s crisis, but of regulatory rollbacks and government assistance that would boost the plastics industry.

From Salon

They were consistently portrayed as policies to slow the spread and consequently mortality in order to relieve the crushing pressure on healthcare facilities and personnel long enough to enable them to get a handle on the pandemic — “flattening the curve” was the watchword.

From Los Angeles Times

In Southern California, where three fires have scorched more than 115,000 acres and burned out of control for days, the rapid cooldown and higher humidity levels have already provided some relief for firefighters trying to get a handle on the blazes.

From Los Angeles Times

In the closing statements, Harris offered up a philosophy of leadership for Americans trying to get a handle on who she is for the first time: “I started my career as a prosecutor. I was a DA. I was an attorney general. A United States senator. And now vice president. I’ve only had one client. The people. And I’ll tell you, as a prosecutor I never asked a victim or a witness, ‘Are you a Republican or a Democrat?’

From Slate

Laguna Beach residents have for months been pushing city officials to get a handle on what they call ‘destructive tourism’ that sweeps through the small beach town every summer.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• administer
• conduct
• control
• deal with
• discuss
• employ
• exercise
• govern
• operate
• play
• serve
• supervise
• take
• treat
• use
• utilize
• work