get a fix on

Idioms  

1. Also, have a fix on;;. Obtain (or have) a clear determination or understanding of something. For example, I was finally able to get a fix on the specifics of this problem, or No one in the press room had a handle on Balkan history, or Do you have a grasp of the situation? Similarly, give a fix means “provide a clear understanding,” as in This briefing will give us a fix on the current situation. The usages with fix and handle are colloquialisms dating from the 1920s; those with grasp are more formal and date from the late 1600s.

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Example Sentences

Dad once told me to look at the horizon to keep from getting seasick, but it was impossible to get a fix on it while holed up in the cabin of a harpoon boat that had windows the size of Kleenex boxes.

From Literature

She may have a chance against the front-runner, though polling is scant and turnout in a primary for an off-year special election is expected to be low, making it even more difficult to get a fix on the race.

From Washington Post

Under the first scenario, a mission could continue the work of ESA’s Gaia telescope, mapping the precise positions of billions of stars to understand the evolution of our Milky Way Galaxy—but shifting attention to near-infrared light, to gain additional stellar information and get a fix on stars obscured by clouds when viewed in visible light.

From Science Magazine

With this year’s awards season scrambled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Oscar prognosticators are still trying to get a fix on which way the winds are blowing — and the sometimes befuddling Golden Globes nominations, announced Wednesday, weren’t much help.

From Los Angeles Times

The service was hard to get a fix on, too.

From New York Times

Related Words

• diagnose
• identify
• recognize