# get

Pronunciation: say "GET" /ɡɛt/

## Verb

1. To obtain or acquire something by any means; with two objects, to obtain something for someone.
   - Simple: To buy, find, or be given something so you have it.
   - _I plan to get a new laptop when the sales start next month._
   - _She got her brother a ticket for the final._
2. Used before an adjective to mean become, or make oneself become, as in getting hungry or getting drunk, with more sense of change than be.
   - Simple: To become a certain way, like hungry, cold, or old.
   - _Even seasoned speakers get nervous before a big presentation._
   - _The kitchen gets really hot when all four burners are on._
3. To reach, enter, or move toward a place, position, or state, or to travel a particular distance.
   - Simple: To reach or move toward a place or state, or to travel a certain distance.
   - _It took us three hours to get to the top of the mountain._
   - _We're finally getting close to the end of this long project._
4. To receive something that comes to you, such as a gift, a letter, a comment, a question, or a punishment.
   - Simple: To receive something, such as a gift, a message, a comment, or a punishment.
   - _The restaurant got dozens of angry reviews after the food poisoning case._
   - _You'll get a reply within three days._
5. Used as an auxiliary with a past participle to form a passive that stresses the event rather than the state. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used with words like bitten or hurt to say something happened to someone.
   - _If you park in that loading zone, your car will get towed._
   - _The window got broken during the storm._
6. To cause someone or something to reach a particular state.
   - Simple: To make someone or something become a certain way.
   - _We need to get the house clean before the guests arrive at six._
   - _After the party it took us the whole afternoon to get the kitchen clean again._
7. To cause or persuade a person or thing to do something, with a to-infinitive or an -ing form.
   - Simple: To make or persuade someone or something to do something.
   - _The coach finally got the team to practice on Saturday mornings._
   - _I tried for an hour, but I couldn't get the printer to print anything._
8. In the construction 'have got', with present meaning, to have, possess, or hold something.
   - Simple: Used in 'have got' to mean have or own.
   - _We've got plenty of time._
   - _Don't worry about dinner, we've got leftovers in the fridge._
9. Followed by an -ing form or a to-infinitive, to begin doing something.
   - Simple: To start doing something, as in get moving or get talking.
   - _Once we got talking about old movies, we forgot all about the time._
   - _Once the kids get talking, nothing stops them._
10. To bring, take, or move someone or something to a place, or to go and fetch them.
   - Simple: To bring or take someone or something to a place, or to go and bring it back.
   - _They got the wounded man to his room and called a doctor._
   - _Can you get the dog outside before the guests arrive?_
11. With a to-infinitive, to have the chance or permission to do something, usually something desirable or ironically presented as such.
   - Simple: To have the chance to do something, often something nice.
   - _As the oldest kid, I always got to sit in the front seat._
   - _The finders get to keep most of the treasure._
12. To understand a joke, an explanation or a person. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To understand something, such as a joke or an idea.
   - _Everyone laughed at the joke, but my dad just didn't get it._
   - _I finally get why my parents worried so much when I stayed out late._
13. To take or catch a scheduled train, bus or flight.
   - Simple: To travel on a bus, train, or plane that leaves at a set time.
   - _If we hurry, we can still get the last bus home tonight._
   - _She usually gets the early ferry so she can beat the crowds downtown._
14. To catch or come down with a disease or condition, from a cold to malaria.
   - Simple: To catch an illness, such as a cold or the flu.
   - _My grandfather got pneumonia last winter and spent a week in the hospital._
   - _Children often get chickenpox before they are ten._
15. Used in have got to, or simply got to, to say that someone must do something, either because it is required or because they feel a need to.
   - Simple: Used in 'have got to' or 'got to' to say that you must do something or feel you need to.
   - _Employees have got to wear their badges at all times inside the plant._
   - _She's got to call her mother tonight, or she won't sleep a wink._
16. To answer or respond to a telephone call, a doorbell or a knock.
   - Simple: To answer the phone or the door when it rings.
   - _When the doorbell rang in the middle of dinner, Dad sighed and got up to get it._
   - _She got the phone on the second ring._
17. To arrive at a result or answer by calculation or reasoning.
   - Simple: To find a number or answer when you work something out.
   - _What answer did you get for the last problem?_
   - _Adding the two columns, she got a different total each time._
18. To go away or clear off, mostly as an order. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To go away at once, usually as a rude order.
   - _Now get, and don't let me catch you on my land again._
   - _I wasn't curious to find out what the thing was, so I got._
19. To hear or catch something completely, especially words said quickly or quietly.
   - Simple: To hear all of what someone said.
   - _The announcer spoke so fast that I didn't get the name of the next station._
   - _The line was bad and I only got half of what he said._
20. To have a strong effect on someone, especially by annoying or upsetting them or wearing them down. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To make someone feel something strongly, often by annoying them, making them sad, or making them tired.
   - _What really gets me is that he never once said thank you._
   - _Twelve-hour shifts get you after a while, no matter how much you love the job._
21. To catch someone out or trick them successfully. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To trick someone so that they believe something false.
   - _My little brother hid behind the door and jumped out, and he got me good._
   - _They tried to get me with a fake invoice, but I checked._
22. To perplex or stump someone, leaving them without an answer. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To confuse someone with a question they cannot answer.
   - _The last riddle in the book has really got me, and I've been thinking for an hour._
   - _Crosswords never get me, but this one has._
23. To catch someone, especially a wrongdoer, or to take revenge on them. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To catch or punish someone, often for something they did.
   - _The detective spent ten years trying to get the man behind the robberies._
   - _She ate my last slice of cake, but I'll get her back tomorrow._
24. With an impersonal you or one as subject, to say that something exists, occurs, or is typical somewhere. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used with you to say that something exists or often happens somewhere.
   - _Up in the mountains, you get snow even in late May._
   - _One gets that sort of pattern in Celtic ornament._
25. Of a joke, a line or a performer, to make someone laugh.
   - Simple: To make someone laugh, as a good joke does every time.
   - _That bit where the dog falls off the couch gets me every time!_
   - _I knew the punch line would get him, so I waited until he set his coffee down._
26. Of a blow, a thrown object, or a shot, to hit someone, often in a specific part of the body. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Of a hit, a thrown thing, or a shot, to strike someone, often on a certain part of the body.
   - _The bullet got him in the shoulder, and he dropped to the ground._
   - _Keep your guard up, or his left hook will get you on the chin._
27. To kill someone, used euphemistically.
   - Simple: To kill someone, said in a soft or indirect way.
   - _If the gang finds him before the police do, they'll get him, and he'll never testify._
   - _The hitman got him outside the hotel._

## Noun

28. Something obtained or won, especially a prized acquisition. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Something you have won or managed to get, like a big prize.
   - _Landing that interview was a big get for the magazine._
   - _Two Olympic athletes in one issue: both were real gets._
29. In tennis and similar sports, a difficult return or block of a shot, a ball reached that looked out of reach.
   - Simple: In tennis, a return of a ball that was very hard to reach.
   - _Her get on the drop shot brought the crowd to its feet._
   - _The match turned on a couple of impossible gets at the net._
30. A formal written document that ends a marriage under Jewish religious law.
   - Simple: A paper that ends a marriage under Jewish religious law.
   - _Without a get, she could not remarry in an Orthodox synagogue._
   - _The rabbinical court heard several cases this year of husbands refusing to grant gets._
31. A contemptible person; another word for git, usually said as an insult. *(dialectal, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: A rude word for a person you do not like or respect.
   - _Put my crisps back, you greedy get!_
   - _Her brother's a right get when he's had a few pints._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Offspring, especially the young fathered by a particular male animal; also, the line of descent a person or animal comes from.
- (verb) To treat a vacuum tube with a getter, a substance that soaks up the last traces of gas inside it.
- (verb) To become the father of a child.
- (verb) To learn something well enough to know it by heart, sometimes followed by out.
- (verb) Used with a pronoun, as in "get you" or "get her", to mock someone for showing off or acting grand.
- (verb) To come out ahead by gaining money, goods or other advantage.
- (verb) To find out an amount or value by measuring it, as when taking a reading.
- (noun) A child, often one born to parents who were not married.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–29** — Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ("to seize") led to Proto-Germanic *getaną, which gave Old Norse geta and in turn Middle English geten. Relatives include Old English ġietan, the source of English "yet," and Gothic bigitan ("to find, discover").
**Meaning 31** — From Middle English get ("offspring", especially a child born outside marriage), from geten ("to get, beget"). Git, now the more common form of the insult, is a later variant of it.
**Meaning 30** — From Hebrew גֵּט (gēṭ).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/get (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).