get (g t)v. got (g t), got·ten (g t n) or got, get·ting, gets v.tr.1. a. To come into possession or use of; receive: got a cat for her birthday. b. To meet with or incur: got nothing but trouble for her efforts. 2. a. To go after and obtain: got a book at the library; got breakfast in town. b. To go after and bring: Get me a pillow. c. To purchase; buy: get groceries. 3. a. To acquire as a result of action or effort: He got his information from the Internet. You can't get water out of a stone. b. To earn: got high marks in math. c. To accomplish or attain as a result of military action. 4. To obtain by concession or request: couldn't get the time off; got permission to go. 5. a. To arrive at; reach: When did you get home? b. To reach and board; catch: She got her plane two minutes before takeoff. 6. To succeed in communicating with, as by telephone: can't get me at the office until nine. 7. To become affected with (an illness, for example) by infection or exposure; catch: get the flu; got the mumps. 8. a. To be subjected to; undergo: got a severe concussion. b. To receive as retribution or punishment: got six years in prison for tax fraud. c. To sustain a stated injury to: got my arm broken. 9. a. To gain or have understanding of: Do you get this question? b. To learn (a poem, for example) by heart; memorize. c. To find or reach by calculating: get a total; can't get the answer. d. To perceive by hearing: I didn't get your name when we were introduced. 10. To procreate; beget. 11. a. To cause to become or be in a specified state or condition: got the children tired and cross; got the shirt clean. b. To make ready; prepare: get lunch for a crowd. c. To cause to come or go: got the car through traffic. d. To cause to move or leave: Get me out of here! 12. To cause to undertake or perform; prevail on: got the guide to give us the complete tour. 13. a. To take, especially by force; seize: The detective got the suspect as he left the restaurant. b. Informal To overcome or destroy: The ice storm got the rose bushes. c. To evoke an emotional response or reaction in: Romantic music really gets me. d. To annoy or irritate: What got me was his utter lack of initiative. e. To present a difficult problem to; puzzle. f. To take revenge on, especially to kill in revenge for a wrong. g. Informal To hit or strike: She got him on the chin. The bullet got him in the arm. 14. Baseball To put out. 15. To begin or start. Used with the present participle: I have to get working on this or I'll miss my deadline. 16. a. To have current possession of. Used in the present perfect form with the meaning of the present: We've got plenty of cash. b. Nonstandard To have current possession of. Used in the past tense form with the meaning of the present: They got a nice house in town. c. To have as an obligation. Used in the present perfect form with the meaning of the present: I have got to leave early. You've got to do the dishes. d. Nonstandard To have as an obligation. Used in the past tense with the meaning of the present: I got to git me a huntin' dog. v.intr.1. a. To become or grow to be: eventually got well. b. To be successful in coming or going: When will we get to Dallas? 2. To be able or permitted: never got to see Europe; finally got to work at home. 3. a. To be successful in becoming: get free of a drug problem. b. Used with the past participle of transitive verbs as a passive voice auxiliary: got stung by a bee. c. To become drawn in, entangled, or involved: got into debt; get into a hassle. 4. Informal To depart immediately: yelled at the dog to get. 5. To work for gain or profit; make money: puts all his energy into getting and spending. n.1. a. The act of begetting. b. Progeny; offspring. 2. Chiefly British Slang A foolish or contemptible person. 3. Sports A return, as in tennis, on a shot that seems impossible to reach. Phrasal Verbs: get about To be out of bed and beginning to walk again, as after an illness. get across1. To make understandable or clear: tried to get my point across. 2. To be convincing or understandable: How can I get across to the students? get after To urge or scold: You should get after them to mow the lawn. get along1. To be or continue to be on harmonious terms: gets along with the in-laws. 2. To manage or fare with reasonable success: can't get along on those wages. 3. a. To make progress. b. To advance, especially in years. 4. To go away; leave. get around1. To circumvent or evade: managed to get around the real issues. 2. Informal To convince or win over by flattering or cajoling. 3. To travel from place to place: It is hard to get around without a car. 4. To become known; circulate: Word got around. get at1. To touch or reach successfully: The cat hid where we couldn't get at it. 2. To try to make understandable; hint at or suggest: I don't know what you're getting at. 3. To discover or understand: tried to get at the cause of the problem. 4. Informal To bribe or influence by improper or illegal means: He got at the judge, and the charges were dismissed. get away1. To break free; escape. 2. To leave or go away: wanted to come along, but couldn't get away. get back To return to a person, place, or condition: getting back to the subject. get by1. To pass or outstrip. 2. To succeed at a level of minimal acceptibility or with the minimal amount of effort: just got by in college. 3. To succeed in managing; survive: We'll get by if we economize. 4. To be unnoticed or ignored by: The mistake got by the editor, but the proofreader caught it. get down1. To descend. 2. To give one's attention. Often used with to: Let's get down to work. 3. To exhaust, discourage, or depress: The heat was getting me down. 4. To swallow: got the pill down on the first try. 5. To describe in writing. 6. Informal To lose one's inhibitions; enjoy oneself wholeheartedly. get in1. a. To enter. b. To arrive: We got in late last night. 2. To become or cause to become involved: She got in with the wrong crowd. Repeated loans from the finance company got me deeper in debt. 3. To become accepted, as in a club. 4. To succeed in making or doing: got in six deliveries before noon. get into1. To become involved in: got into trouble by stealing cars. 2. Informal To be interested in: got into gourmet cooking. get off1. To start, as on a trip; leave. 2. a. To fire (a round of ammunition, for example): got off two shots before the deer disappeared. b. To write and send, as a letter. 3. To escape, as from punishment or danger: got off scot-free. 4. To obtain a release or lesser penalty for: The attorney got her client off with a slap on the wrist. 5. Slang To act or speak with effrontery. Used in the imperative to express contempt or disdainful disbelief. 6. Slang To have an orgasm. 7. Slang a. To feel great pleasure or gratification. b. To experience euphoria, for example, as a result of taking a drug. 8. To get permission to leave one's workplace: got off early and went fishing. get on1. To be or continue on harmonious terms: gets on well with the neighbors. 2. To manage or fare with reasonable success. 3. a. To make progress; continue: get on with a performance. b. To advance in years. 4. To acquire understanding or knowledge: got on to the con game. get out1. a. To leave or escape. b. To cause to leave or escape. 2. To become known: Somehow the secret got out. 3. To publish, as a newspaper. get over1. To prevail against; overcome. 2. To recover from: finally got over the divorce. 3. To get across. get through1. To arrive at the end of; finish or complete. 2. a. To succeed in making contact; reach. b. To make oneself understood. get to1. a. To begin. Used with the present participle: got to reminiscing. b. To start to deal with: didn't get to the housework until Sunday. 2. To influence or affect, especially adversely: The noise really gets to me. get together1. To bring together; gather. 2. To come together. 3. To arrive at an agreement. get up1. a. To arise from bed or rise to one's feet. b. To climb. 2. To act as the creator or organizer of: got up a petition against rezoning. 3. To dress or adorn: She got herself up in a bizarre outfit. 4. To find within oneself: got up the nerve to quit. Idioms: get around to To find the time or occasion for. get away with To escape the consequences of (a blameworthy act, for example): got away with cheating. get back at To take revenge on. get cracking To begin to work; get started. get even To obtain revenge. get even with To repay with an equivalent act, as for revenge. get going To make a beginning; get started. get hold/ahold of1. To bring into one's grasp, possession, or control. 2. To communicate with, especially by telephone. get it Informal To be punished or scolded. get it on Slang 1. To become filled with energy or excitement. 2. To engage in sexual intercourse. get nowhere To make no progress. get (one's) Informal To receive one's due punishment: After sassing his parents, he really got his. get on the stick To begin to work. get out of To gain release from the obligation of: She tried to get out of taking her brother to the mall. He couldn't get out of his date on Saturday. get (someone's) goat To make angry or vexed. get somewhere Informal To make progress. get there Informal To make progress or achieve success. get wind of To learn of: got wind of the scheme.
[Middle English geten, from Old Norse geta; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]
get a·ble, get ta·ble adj. Usage Note: The use of get in the passive, as in We got sunburned at the beach, is generally avoided in formal writing. In less formal contexts, however, the construction can provide a useful difference in tone or emphasis, as between the sentences The demonstrators were arrested and The demonstrators got arrested. The first example implies that the responsibility for the arrests rests primarily with the police, while the example using get implies that the demonstrators deliberately provoked the arrests. · In colloquial use and in numerous nonstandard varieties of American English, the past tense form got has the meaning of the present. This arose probably by dropping the helping verb have from the past perfects have got, has got: We've got to go, we've got a lot of problems became We got to go, we got a lot of problems. The reanalysis of got as a present-tense form has led to the creation of a third singular gots in some varieties of English, especially African American Vernacular English. |
get up Verb 1. to get out of bed 2. get up to Informal to be involved in: I don't know what those guys got up to down there Noun get-up Informal a costume or outfit
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Verb | 1. | get up - rise to one's feet; "The audience got up and applauded" | | 2. | get up - get up and out of bed; "I get up at 7 A.M. every day"; "They rose early"; "He uprose at night" | | 3. | get up - raise from a lower to a higher position; "Raise your hands"; "Lift a load"get up - cause to rise; "The sergeant got us up at 2 A.M." jack, jack up - lift with a special device; "jack up the car so you can change the tire" kick up - cause to rise by kicking; "kick up dust" hoist, wind, lift - raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help; "hoist the bicycle onto the roof of the car" run up, hoist - raise; "hoist the flags"; "hoist a sail" hoist - move from one place to another by lifting; "They hoisted the patient onto the operating table" move, displace - cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense; "Move those boxes into the corner, please"; "I'm moving my money to another bank"; "The director moved more responsibilities onto his new assistant" pump - raise (gases or fluids) with a pump levitate - cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity; "The magician levitated the woman" underlay - raise or support (the level of printing) by inserting a piece of paper or cardboard under the type; "underlay the plate" skid - elevate onto skids pinnacle - raise on or as if on a pinnacle; "He did not want to be pinnacled" chin, chin up - raise oneself while hanging from one's hands until one's chin is level with the support bar heighten - increase the height of; "The athletes kept jumping over the steadily heightened bars" | | 4. | get up - cause to rise; "The sergeant got us up at 2 A.M." | | 5. | get up - develop; "we worked up an as of an appetite"acquire, develop, produce, grow, get - come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes); "He grew a beard"; "The patient developed abdominal pains"; "I got funny spots all over my body"; "Well-developed breasts" | | 6. | get up - put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive; "She never dresses up, even when she goes to the opera"; "The young girls were all fancied up for the party"attire, deck out, deck up, dress up, fancy up, fig out, fig up, gussy up, rig out, tog out, tog up, trick out, trick up, overdress, prink primp, preen, dress, plume - dress or groom with elaborate care; "She likes to dress when going to the opera" prank - dress up showily; "He pranked himself out in his best clothes" tart up - dress up in a cheap and provocative way dress, dress up - dress in a certain manner; "She dresses in the latest Paris fashion"; "he dressed up in a suit and tie" dress, get dressed - put on clothes; "we had to dress quickly"; "dress the patient"; "Can the child dress by herself?" costume, dress up - dress in a costume; "We dressed up for Halloween as pumpkins" | | 7. | get up - arrange by systematic planning and united effort; "machinate a plot"; "organize a strike"; "devise a plan to take over the director's office"initiate, pioneer - take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of; "This South African surgeon pioneered heart transplants" put on, mount - prepare and supply with the necessary equipment for execution or performance; "mount a theater production"; "mount an attack"; "mount a play" lay - prepare or position for action or operation; "lay a fire"; "lay the foundation for a new health care plan" set up - begin, or enable someone else to begin, a venture by providing the means, logistics, etc.; "set up an election" spatchcock - prepare for eating if or as if a spatchcock; "spatchcock a guinea hen" embattle - prepare for battle or conflict | | 8. | get up - study intensively, as before an exam; "I had to bone up on my Latin verbs before the final exam"cram - prepare (students) hastily for an impending exam hit the books, study - learn by reading books; "He is studying geology in his room"; "I have an exam next week; I must hit the books now" |
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