get away with
Idioms-
Escape the consequences or blame for, as in Bill often cheats on exams but usually gets away with it . [Late 1800s]
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get away with murder . Escape the consequences of killing someone; also, do anything one wishes. For example, If the jury doesn't convict him, he'll have gotten away with murder , or He talks all day on the phone—the supervisor is letting him get away with murder . [First half of 1900s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What irks me is how one-note the character writing is, and how the movie’s youthful, seemingly forward-thinking perspective allows Barker to get away with reducing Nikki to nothing.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026
But in real-life communication, even in our expert languages, we often make mistakes and get away with it.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2026
Parking lots filled up fast — the lot at Curry Village was full by 8 a.m. — and cars were stashed in every unmarked flat spot their owners thought they could get away with.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
For Apple, as for Jobs, the whole episode involved the kind of deus ex machina you could never get away with in fiction.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
I have seen rabbits outwit foxes and watched red squirrels tease martens and get away with it, but this time it was not to be.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
