Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - get

I. [c red]CHANGING, CAUSING, MOVING, OR REACHING (gets, getting, got, or gotten) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: In most of its uses 'get' is a fairly informal word. 'Gotten' is an American form of the past tense and past participle. 1. You use get with adjectives to mean ‘become’. For example, if someone gets cold, they become cold, and if they get angry, they become angry. The boys were getting bored... There’s no point in getting upset... From here on, it can only get better. V-LINK: V adj, V adj, V adj 2. Get is used with expressions referring to states or situations. For example, to get into trouble means to start being in trouble. Half the pleasure of an evening out is getting ready... Perhaps I shouldn’t say that–I might get into trouble... How did we get into this recession, and what can we do to get out of it? V-LINK: V adj, V prep/adv, V prep/adv 3. To get someone or something into a particular state or situation means to cause them to be in it. I don’t know if I can get it clean... What got me interested was looking at an old New York Times... Brian will get them out of trouble. VERB: V n adj, V n adj, V n prep 4. If you get someone to do something, you cause them to do it by asking, persuading, or telling them to do it. ...a long campaign to get US politicians to take the Aids epidemic more seriously... How did you get him to pose for this picture? = persuade VERB: V n to-inf, V n to-inf 5. If you get something done, you cause it to be done. I might benefit from getting my teeth fixed... It was best to get things done quickly. VERB: V n -ed, V n -ed 6. To get somewhere means to move there. I got off the bed and opened the door... I heard David yelling and telling them to get back. VERB: V prep/adv, V prep/adv 7. When you get to a place, you arrive there. Generally I get to work at 9.30am... It was dark by the time she got home. VERB: V to n, V adv 8. To get something or someone into a place or position means to cause them to move there. Mack got his wallet out... The UN was supposed to be getting aid to where it was most needed. VERB: V n with adv, V n prep 9. Get is often used in place of ‘be’ as an auxiliary verb to form passives. Does she ever get asked for her autograph?... A pane of glass got broken. AUX: AUX -ed, AUX -ed 10. If you get to do something, you eventually or gradually reach a stage at which you do it. No one could figure out how he got to be so wealthy. VERB: V to-inf 11. If you get to do something, you manage to do it or have the opportunity to do it. Do you get to see him often?... They get to stay in nice hotels. VERB: V to-inf, V to-inf 12. You can use get in expressions like get moving, get going, and get working when you want to tell people to begin moving, going, or working quickly. I aim to be off the lake before dawn, so let’s get moving... VERB: V -ing 13. If you get to a particular stage in your life or in something you are doing, you reach that stage. We haven’t got to the stage of a full-scale military conflict... If she gets that far, Jane may get legal aid to take her case to court... It got to the point where I was so ill I was waiting to die. VERB: V to n, V adv, it V to n 14. You can use get to talk about the progress that you are making. For example, if you say that you are getting somewhere, you mean that you are making progress, and if you say that something won’t get you anywhere, you mean it will not help you to progress at all. Radical factions say the talks are getting nowhere and they want to withdraw... My perseverance was getting me somewhere. VERB: V adv, V n adv 15. When it gets to a particular time, it is that time. If it is getting towards a particular time, it is approaching that time. It got to after 1am and I was exhausted... It was getting towards evening when we got back... It’s getting late. V-LINK: it V to n, it V towards n, it V adj 16. If something that has continued for some time gets to you, it starts causing you to suffer. That’s the first time I lost my cool in 20 years in this job. This whole thing’s getting to me. VERB: V to n 17. If something gets you, it annoys you. (INFORMAL) What gets me is the attitude of so many of the people. VERB: no passive, V n II. [c red]OBTAINING, RECEIVING, OR CATCHING (gets, getting, got, or gotten) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If you get something that you want or need, you obtain it. I got a job at the sawmill... He had been having trouble getting a hotel room... I asked him to get me some information. VERB: V n, V n, V n n, also V n for n 2. If you get something, you receive it or are given it. I’m getting a bike for my birthday... He gets a lot of letters from women... VERB: V n, V n 3. If you get someone or something, you go and bring them to a particular place. I came down this morning to get the newspaper... Go and get me a large brandy... Go and get your daddy for me. VERB: V n, V n n, V n for n 4. If you get a meal, you prepare it. She was getting breakfast as usual. VERB: V n 5. If you get a particular result, you obtain it from some action that you take, or from a calculation or experiment. You could run that race again and get a different result each time... What do you get if you multiply six by nine? VERB: V n, V n 6. If you get a particular price for something that you sell, you obtain that amount of money by selling it. He can’t get a good price for his crops. VERB: V n for n 7. If you get the time or opportunity to do something, you have the time or opportunity to do it. You get time to think in prison... Whenever I get the chance I go to Maxim’s for dinner. VERB: V n, V n 8. If you get an idea, impression, or feeling, you begin to have that idea, impression, or feeling as you learn or understand more about something. I get the feeling that you’re an honest man... The study is an attempt to get a better idea of why people live where they do... VERB: V n, V n 9. If you get a feeling or benefit from an activity or experience, the activity or experience gives you that feeling or benefit. Charles got a shock when he saw him... She gets enormous pleasure out of working freelance... VERB: V n, V n out of/from n/-ing 10. If you get a look, view, or glimpse of something, you manage to see it. Young men climbed on buses and fences to get a better view... Crowds shouted and pushed to get a glimpse of their hero. = obtain VERB: V n, V n 11. If a place gets a particular type of weather, it has that type of weather. Riyadh got 25 mm of rain in just 12 hours... Northern Kentucky is likely to get snow mixed with sleet. VERB: V n, V n 12. If you get a joke or get the point of something that is said, you understand it. Did you get that joke, Ann? I’ll explain later... You don’t seem to get the point. VERB: V n, V n 13. If you get an illness or disease, you become ill with it. When I was five I got measles. VERB: V n 14. When you get a train, bus, plane, or boat, you leave a place on a particular train, bus, plane, or boat. What time are you getting your train? VERB: V n 15. If you get a person or animal, you succeed in catching, killing, or hitting them. Take it easy. We’ve got him. He’s not going to kill anyone else. VERB: V n 16. see also getting, got III. [c red]PHRASES AND PHRASAL VERBS (gets, getting, got, or gotten) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You can say that something is, for example, as good as you can get to mean that it is as good as it is possible for that thing to be. Consort has a population of 714 and is about as rural and isolated as you can get. PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 2. If you say you can’t get away from something or there is no getting away from something, you are emphasizing that it is true, even though people might prefer it not to be true. (INFORMAL) There is no getting away from the fact that he is on the left of the party. PHRASE: PHR n c darkgreen]emphasis 3. If you get away from it all, you have a holiday in a place that is very different from where you normally live and work. ...the ravishing island of Ischia, where rich Italians get away from it all. PHRASE: V inflects 4. Get is used in rude expressions like get stuffed and get lost to express contempt, disagreement, or refusal to do something. (RUDE) CONVENTION c darkgreen]feelings 5. You can say, for example, ‘How lucky can you get?’ or ‘How stupid can you get?’ to show your surprise that anyone could be as lucky or stupid as the person that you are talking about. (INFORMAL) I mean, how crazy can you get? PHRASE c darkgreen]feelings 6. You can use you get instead of ‘there is’ or ‘there are’ to say that something exists, happens, or can be experienced. (SPOKEN) You get a lot of things like that now don’t you... That’s where you get some differences of opinion. PHRASE: PHR n