get at
Britishverb
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to gain access to
the dog could not get at the meat on the high shelf
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to mean or intend
what are you getting at when you look at me like that?
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to irritate or annoy persistently; criticize
she is always getting at him
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to influence or seek to influence, esp illegally by bribery, intimidation, etc
someone had got at the witness before the trial
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Touch, reach successfully, as in Mom hid the peanut butter so we couldn't get at it . [Late 1700s]
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Try to make understandable; hint at or suggest. For example, I think I see what you're getting at . [Late 1800s]
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Discover, learn, ascertain, as in We must get at the facts of the case . [Late 1700s]
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Bribe or influence by improper or illegal means, as in He got at the judge, and the charges were dismissed . [ Colloquial ; mid-1800s]
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Start on, begin work on, attend to, as in “Get at your canvassing early, and drive it with all your might” (Mark Twain, letter to his publishers, 1884). [ Colloquial ; late 1800s]
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.
Moreover, a monthly print isn’t self-explaining: Officials have to strip out special factors to get at the underlying trend, which is what Warsh said at Jackson Hole he was watching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Much of that is due to the recent record warmth of the near-shore ocean, as the water temperature essentially sets the floor for how cold it will get at night along the coast, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
"We came up with a somewhat ingenious set of methods to get at something very difficult to analyze in the fossil record."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Weeks ticked by, and eventually Grayson missed the polio and diptheria jabs he was supposed to get at eight weeks old.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
“Half a mile to the gate,” he said, covering his broken tooth with his upper lip so the wind couldn’t get at it.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
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.
