
to capture; seize: Get him before he escapes!
to prepare; make ready: to get dinner.
(especially of animals) to beget.
Informal. to affect emotionally: Her pleas got me.
Informal. to kill.
Informal. to take vengeance on: I'll get you yet!
to earn money; gain.
British Slang.
a child born out of wedlock.
Verb phrases
get about,
Also, get around.
get across,
get ahead of,
get along,
to go away; leave.
get around,
to circumvent; outwit.
to ingratiate oneself with (someone) through flattery or cajolery.
get at,
Informal. to influence by surreptitious or illegal means; bribe: The gangsters couldn't get at the mayor.
get away,
get by,
get down,
get in,
get off,
to escape the consequences of or punishment for one's actions.
Slang: Vulgar. to experience orgasm.
get on/along,
to make progress; proceed; advance.
to have sufficient means to manage, survive, or fare.
to advance in age: He is getting on in years.
get out,
to produce or complete: Let's get this work out!
get over,
to recover from: to get over an illness.
get through,
get to,
Informal. to make an impression on; affect: This music really gets to you.
get back,
to come back; return: When will you get back?
get even. even1 ( def 26 ).
get going,
get it, Informal.
get it off, Slang: Vulgar. to experience orgasm.
get it on,
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.
get round. get around.
get the lead out. lead2 ( def 15 ).
get together,
get up,
to sit up or stand; arise.
to rise from bed.
to ascend or mount.
to acquire a knowledge of.
has/have got,
to suffer from: Have you got a cold?


gettable, getable, adjective



The pronunciation [git] for get has existed since the 16th century. The same change is exhibited in [kin] for can and [yit] for yet. The pronunciation [git] is not regional and occurs in all parts of the country. It is most common as an unstressed syllable: Let's get going! [lets git-goh-ing]. In educated speech the pronunciation [git] in stressed syllables is rare and sometimes criticized. When get is an imperative meaning “leave immediately,” the pronunciation is usually facetious: Now get! [nou git]. Unabridged


noun, plural gittin [Sephardic Hebrew gee-teen; Ashkenazic Hebrew git-in] , gitim [Sephardic Hebrew gee-teem; Ashkenazic Hebrew git-im] . Hebrew.
a divorce granted in accordance with Jewish law. Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
get (ɡɛt)
vb (often foll by to) (foll by to) , esp (US) gets, getting, got, got, gotten
1.  to come into possession of; receive or earn
2.  to bring or fetch
4.  to capture or seize: the police finally got him
8.  to make ready or prepare: to get a meal
10.  informal (US), (Canadian) to learn or master by study
12.  to catch or enter: to get a train
15.  to receive (a broadcast signal)
17.  informal to have an emotional effect (on): that music really gets me
20.  informal to puzzle; baffle
22.  informal to be revenged on, esp by killing
23.  slang (US)
25.  informal (intr; foll by present participle) to begin: get moving
26.  informal ( used as a command ) go! leave now!
27.  archaic to beget or conceive
28.  get even with See even
29.  informal get it, get it in the neck to be reprimanded or punished severely
30.  slang get with it to allow oneself to respond to new ideas, styles, etc
31.  archaic get with child to make pregnant
32.  rare the act of begetting
33.  rare something begotten; offspring
34.  slang (Brit) a variant of git

abbreviation for
Greenwich Electronic Time

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

c.1200, from O.N. geta "to obtain, reach" (p.t. gatum, pp. getenn), from P.Gmc. *getan (cf. O.E. begietan "to beget," O.Swed. gissa "to guess," lit. "to try to get"), from PIE base *ghe(n)d- "seize" (cf. Gk. khandanein "to hold, contain," Lith. godetis "be eager," second element in L. prehendere "to
grasp, seize," Welsh gannu "to hold, contain," O.C.S. gadati "to guess, suppose"). Meaning "to seize mentally, grasp" is from 1892. O.E., as well as Du. and Fris., had the root only in compounds (cf. beget, forget). Vestiges of O.E. cognate *gietan remain obliquely in pp. gotten and original pt. gat. The word and phrases built on it take up 29 columns in the OED 2nd edition. Slang get over "recover, rebound" is from 1687. Getaway "escape" is from 1852. Get-up "equipment or costume" is from 1847. Get-rich-quick (adj.) is from 1902. Get wind of "become acquainted with" is from 1840, from earlier to get wind "to get out, become known" (1722).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases


In addition to the idioms beginning with get, also see be (get) busted; come and get it; dip (get) one's toes into; early bird catches (gets) the worm; give as good as one gets; ground floor, get in on the; it takes getting used to; lay (get) one's hands on; marching orders, get one's; play hard to get; squeaky wheel gets the grease; tell someone where to get off; when the going gets tough; you get what you pay for. Also see under become; give; have.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
Why don't you get out of your skeptic chair and come down to visit us.
  of the diamond industry to go out and buy diamonds.
Learn about new destinations and get travel tips at the Sunset campus.
Sometimes it's hard not to think machines are out to get us.
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