get at

British  

verb

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?

3. to irritate or annoy persistently; criticize

   she is always getting at him

4. 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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get at Idioms  

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

2. Try to make understandable; hint at or suggest. For example, I think I see what you're getting at . [Late 1800s]

3. Discover, learn, ascertain, as in We must get at the facts of the case . [Late 1700s]

4. Bribe or influence by improper or illegal means, as in He got at the judge, and the charges were dismissed . [ Colloquial ; mid-1800s]

5. 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]

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Example Sentences

“The most fun you’ll get at the fair is from talking to people,” my friend Matthew, who has several years of renaissance fair experience, told me.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Not the kind you get at a tiny restaurant with exposed brick and a chef who forages.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2026

“We don’t have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood spatter analysis, all of those things we would normally get at a crime scene.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

“Today’s executive orders get at the root of the housing affordability problem by eliminating obstacles to build more homes and providing better access to financing,” Bill Owens, the trade group’s chairman, said in a statement.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

Big Ma didn’t yell about “a pair of unbroken broncos kicking and neighing to get at a plate of cookies.”

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Related Words

• ascertain
• get hold of