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.
Where I lose patience, though, is when a director assumes the audience doesn’t have a collective brain cell among them and attempts to get away with serving action fans a ration of gruel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Meanwhile, flat jobs data and moderate wage growth may lead it to think that firms have little opportunity to get away with hiking up prices.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
"If in 2024 I could get away with criticising Putin and the war, now I can't anymore," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
He and his close circle had decided to do whatever they wanted and see what they could get away with.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
Not many people can get away with talking about your family like that, but Kat can.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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.
