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.
Will the new rules allow homeowners to get away with things they shouldn’t and abuse community rules?
From Los Angeles Times
While homeschooling is technically illegal, Zhao said families can generally "get away with it without causing too much attention".
From Barron's
“Agencies owe a duty to the public to be more proactive and more transparent, even than the bare minimum letter of the law might allow them to get away with,” Loy said.
From Los Angeles Times
Sentencing him, Judge Vanessa Francis told Crump his offending was "breathtakingly harmful" and the trust placed in him meant he thought he "could get away with it".
From BBC
"My cynical side, after almost 20 years in this field, wonders how they're actually going to monitor and regulate this. I don't think the government has the resources to investigate, so employers may still get away with noncompliance. But if people run into problems, they can make a complaint and it will be looked into."
From BBC
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.
