get down
Britishverb
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(intr; also preposition) to dismount or descend
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(tr; also preposition) to bring down
we could not get the wardrobe down the stairs
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(tr) to write down
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(tr) to make depressed
your nagging gets me down
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(tr) to swallow
he couldn't get the meal down
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to attend seriously (to); concentrate (on) (esp in the phrases get down to business or brass tacks )
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informal (intr) to enjoy oneself uninhibitedly, esp by dancing
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Descend; bring down; also, swallow. For example, He's getting down from the ladder , or Can you get the cat down from the tree? or I can't seem to get this pill down . [Late 1500s]
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get down to . Give one's attention to, as in Let's get down to work , or It's time we got down to business . [Late 1800s] For the most important variants, see under get down to brass tacks .
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get down on . See down on .
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get someone down . Discourage or depress someone. For example, Don't let Mary's troubles get you down , or Day after day of rain really gets me down . [c. 1930]
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Describe in writing, as in Can you get down all he's saying?
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Lose one's inhibitions, enjoy oneself fully. For example, At our reunion we got down with all our old friends . Slang
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.
Firefighters climbed stairs and ran toward mortal danger, while a cascade of people tried as hard as they could to get down.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
“That’s not a common practice, for someone at my level, for the CEO to roll up their sleeves and get down to the front lines,” he added, but sometimes it’s “critical.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
But nearby police officers who weren’t part of the production thought they were just two drunks having fun and yelled at them to get down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
They stretched up the long corridor all the way to the door of the Cabinet Room - left ajar for him to walk straight in and get down to work.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Mama’s furious voice drifted up from the porch, and pretty soon Papa came to the bottom of the stairs and hollered for me to get down there.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
