get at


verb(intr, preposition)
  1. to gain access to: the dog could not get at the meat on the high shelf

  2. to mean or intend: what are you getting at when you look at me like that?

  1. to irritate or annoy persistently; criticize: she is always getting at him

  2. to influence or seek to influence, esp illegally by bribery, intimidation, etc: someone had got at the witness before the trial

Words Nearby get at

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use get at in a sentence

  • I had never even wished to do so, any more than one wishes to handle the moon or stars or any other un-get-at-able objects.

    Grandmother Dear | Mrs. Molesworth
  • The defect is it is really oil the river, not on the sea, but the neighbouring bays are so get-at-able we have settled here.

  • He needs a mother who can talk with him and answer his questions, who is not stern and severe, but responsive and get-at-able.

  • The Purple Cliff Brake is one of the plants that rejoice in un-get-at-able and perilous situations.

    How to Know the Ferns | Frances Theodora Parsons
  • They were more easily negotiated and less traceable than English banknotes, and they were more get-at-able.

    Jack O' Judgment | Edgar Wallace

Other Idioms and Phrases with get at

get at

Touch, reach successfully, as in Mom hid the peanut butter so we couldn't get at it. [Late 1700s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.