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Get at   /gɛt æt/   Listen
verb
Get  v. i.  (past got, obs. gat; past part. got or gotten; pres. part. getting)  
1.
To make acquisition; to gain; to profit; to receive accessions; to be increased. "We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get."
2.
To arrive at, or bring one's self into, a state, condition, or position; to come to be; to become; with a following adjective or past participle belonging to the subject of the verb; as, to get sober; to get awake; to get beaten; to get elected. "To get rid of fools and scoundrels." "His chariot wheels get hot by driving fast." Note: It (get) gives to the English language a middle voice, or a power of verbal expression which is neither active nor passive. Thus we say to get acquitted, beaten, confused, dressed. Note: Get, as an intransitive verb, is used with a following preposition, or adverb of motion, to indicate, on the part of the subject of the act, movement or action of the kind signified by the preposition or adverb; or, in the general sense, to move, to stir, to make one's way, to advance, to arrive, etc.; as, to get away, to leave, to escape; to disengage one's self from; to get down, to descend, esp. with effort, as from a literal or figurative elevation; to get along, to make progress; hence, to prosper, succeed, or fare; to get in, to enter; to get out, to extricate one's self, to escape; to get through, to traverse; also, to finish, to be done; to get to, to arrive at, to reach; to get off, to alight, to descend from, to dismount; also, to escape, to come off clear; to get together, to assemble, to convene.
To get ahead, to advance; to prosper.
To get along, to proceed; to advance; to prosper.
To get a mile (or other distance), to pass over it in traveling.
To get among, to go or come into the company of; to become one of a number.
To get asleep, to fall asleep.
To get astray, to wander out of the right way.
To get at, to reach; to make way to.
To get away with, to carry off; to capture; hence, to get the better of; to defeat.
To get back, to arrive at the place from which one departed; to return.
To get before, to arrive in front, or more forward.
To get behind, to fall in the rear; to lag.
To get between, to arrive between.
To get beyond, to pass or go further than; to exceed; to surpass. "Three score and ten is the age of man, a few get beyond it."
To get clear, to disengage one's self; to be released, as from confinement, obligation, or burden; also, to be freed from danger or embarrassment.
To get drunk, to become intoxicated.
To get forward, to proceed; to advance; also, to prosper; to advance in wealth.
To get home, to arrive at one's dwelling, goal, or aim.
To get into.
(a)
To enter, as, "she prepared to get into the coach."
(b)
To pass into, or reach; as, " a language has got into the inflated state."
To get loose or To get free, to disengage one's self; to be released from confinement.
To get near, to approach within a small distance.
To get on, to proceed; to advance; to prosper.
To get over.
(a)
To pass over, surmount, or overcome, as an obstacle or difficulty.
(b)
To recover from, as an injury, a calamity.
To get through.
(a)
To pass through something.
(b)
To finish what one was doing.
To get up.
(a)
To rise; to arise, as from a bed, chair, etc.
(b)
To ascend; to climb, as a hill, a tree, a flight of stairs, etc.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Get at" Quotes from Famous Books



... started the journey brashly, on impulse, but after debate and discussion with Mandy, his wife. Mandy's conclusion was that if Scattergood had to go to the city he might as well get at it and have it over, exercising the care of an exceedingly prudent man in the circumstances, and following minutely advice that would be forthcoming from her. Undoubtedly, she thought, he could manage the matter and return ...
— Scattergood Baines • Clarence Budington Kelland

... don't know—my grandmother could never get at the rights of it, for Nencia was mute as a fish where her lady was concerned—but when they came back to Vicenza the Duke ordered the villa set in order; and in the spring he brought the Duchess here and left her. She looked happy ...
— Crucial Instances • Edith Wharton

... not far to seek. A red-eyed ferret, tied by a string to the foot of a chair, was making strenuous efforts to get at him. ...
— Boy Woodburn - A Story of the Sussex Downs • Alfred Ollivant

... a dedication to the queen, an introduction telling how Sir Arthur Helps made the acquaintance of Mr. Brassey and what impressions he received from the interview, and a preliminary chapter containing a brief outline of Mr. Brassey's character as "a man of business;" so that we get at the substance of the book by a process like that which in a well-conducted household precedes the carving and distribution of a Christmas cake, any eagerness we might feel to "put in a thumb and pull out a plum" being kept in check by a proper ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Vol. XV., No. 85. January, 1875. • Various

... to see Dr. Castle up near the ceiling trying to get at a chimpanzee perched just out of reach on a steam pipe. "Castle, are you crazy?" he cried. "Get down from ...
— I Was a Teen-Age Secret Weapon • Richard Sabia


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