Word: get Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English geten, from Old Norse geta, from Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to find; to acquire, attain, get, hold, receive”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to find; to hold; to seize; to take”). Cognates Cognate with Yola get (“to get”), Danish gide (“to care, like”), Faroese gita (“to be able”), Icelandic geta (“to be able; to beget, father; to achieve, obtain, to guess; to mention”), Norwegian Nynorsk gjeta, gjete (“to guess; to mention”), Scanian gida (“to have the energy to, to feel up for”), gæda (“to guess”), Swedish gita, gitta (“to be able, to bring oneself to, to care”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bigitan, “to discover, find”); also Latin edera, hedera (“ivy”), praeda (“booty, pillage, plunder; prey; gain, profit”), prehendō, prēndō (“to grab, grasp, seize; to attain, reach”), Ancient Greek χανδάνω (khandánō, “to comprise, contain, hold”), Albanian gjej (“to find”). Pronunciation: /ɡɛt/, /ɡɪt/, /ɡet/ 1. To obtain; to acquire. Labels: ditransitive, transitive Example: I'm going to get a computer tomorrow from the discount store. Example: Lance is going to get Mary a ring. 2. To receive. Labels: transitive Example: I got a computer from my parents for my birthday. Example: He got a severe reprimand for that. 3. To have. See usage notes. Labels: transitive Example: I've got a concert ticket for you. Example: "Yeah, and I got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you," was Peter's response to his wife. 4. To fetch, bring, take. Labels: transitive Example: Can you get my bag from the living-room, please? Example: I need to get this to the office. 5. To become, or cause oneself to become (often with temporary states, past participle adjectives and comparatives). Labels: copulative Example: Near-synonyms: become, turn, go, come, fall, grow, wax Example: I'm getting hungry; how about you? 6. To cause to become; to bring about. Labels: transitive Example: That song gets me so depressed every time I hear it. Example: I'll get this finished by lunchtime. 7. To cause to do. Labels: transitive Example: Somehow she got him to agree to it. Example: I can't get it to work. 8. To cause to come or go or move. Labels: transitive Example: I got him to his room. Example: Get thee behind me. 9. To adopt, assume, arrive at, or progress towards (a certain position, location, state). Labels: intransitive, usually Example: The actors are getting into position. Example: When are we going to get to London? 10. To cover (a certain distance) while travelling. Labels: transitive Example: to get a mile 11. (with full infinitive or gerund-participle) To begin (doing something or to do something). Labels: catenative, intransitive Example: We ought to get moving or we'll be late. Example: After lunch we got chatting. 12. To take or catch (a scheduled transportation service). Labels: transitive Example: I normally get the 7:45 train. Example: I'll get the 9 a.m. [flight] to Boston. 13. To respond to (a telephone call, a doorbell, etc). Labels: transitive Example: Can you get that call, please? I'm busy. 14. (with full infinitive) To be able, be permitted, or have the opportunity (to do something desirable or ironically implied to be desirable). Labels: catenative, intransitive Example: I'm so jealous that you got to see them perform live! Example: The finders get to keep 80 percent of the treasure. 15. To understand. (compare get it) Labels: informal, transitive Example: Yeah, I get it, it's just not funny. Example: I don't get what you mean by "fun". This place sucks! 16. To be told; be the recipient of (a question, comparison, opinion, etc.). Labels: informal, transitive Example: "You look just like Helen Mirren." / "I get that a lot." Example: Do you mind? Excuse me / I saw you over there / Can I just tell you ¶ Although there are millions of / Cephalophores that wander through this world / You've got something extra going on / I think you probably know ¶ You probably get that a lot / I'll bet that people say that a lot to you, girl. 17. Used with the past participle to form the dynamic passive voice of a dynamic verb. Compared with static passive with to be, this emphasizes the commencement of an action or entry into a state. Labels: auxiliary, informal Example: He got bitten by a dog. Example: Of particular importance is the bureaucratic organization of European judiciaries. The judiciary is a career. You start at the bottom and get assigned and promoted at the pleasure of your superiors. 18. Used with a pronoun subject, usually you but sometimes one, to indicate that the object of the verb exists, can occur or is otherwise typical. Labels: impersonal, informal Example: You get some very rude people here. Example: It was the kind of shop you used to get in most small towns. 19. To become ill with or catch (a disease). Labels: transitive Example: I went on holiday and got malaria. 20. To catch out, trick successfully. Labels: informal, transitive Example: He keeps calling pretending to be my boss—it gets me every time. 21. To perplex, stump. Labels: informal, transitive Example: That question's really got me. 22. To find as an answer. Labels: transitive Example: What did you get for question four? 23. To bring to reckoning; to catch (usually as a criminal); to effect retribution. Labels: informal, transitive Example: The cops finally got me. Example: I'm gonna get him for that. 24. To hear completely; catch. Labels: transitive Example: Sorry, I didn't get that. Could you repeat it? 25. To getter. Labels: transitive Example: I put the getter into the container to get the gases. 26. To beget (of a father). Labels: archaic Example: I had rather to adopt a child than get it. Example: Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself / Upon thy wicked dam, come forth! 27. To learn; to commit to memory; to memorize; sometimes with out. Labels: archaic Example: to get a lesson; to get out one's Greek lesson Example: it being harder with him to get one sermon by heart, than to pen twenty 28. Used with a personal pronoun to indicate that someone is being pretentious or grandiose. Labels: imperative, informal Example: Get her with her new hairdo. Example: Brother, get her! Draped on a bedspread made from three kinds of fur! 29. To go, to leave; to scram. Labels: imperative, informal, intransitive Example: Get, now — get! — before I call an officer and lay a charge against ye. Example: I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't no flashlight and I wasn't too curious, just then, to find out what would happen if he did more than wave it at me, so I got. I went back about twenty feet or so and watched. 30. To kill. Labels: euphemistic Example: They’re coming to get you, Barbara. Example: He got Dancer and Prancer with an old German Luger And he slashed up Dasher just like Freddy Krueger 31. To make acquisitions; to gain; to profit. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get. 32. To measure. Labels: transitive Example: Did you get her temperature? 33. To cause someone to laugh. Labels: transitive Example: It gets me every time!