One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
Synonyms of get in English:
get
See definition of get
verb
1‘I got the impression he didn't like me’
acquire, obtain, come by, come to have, come into possession of, receive, gain, earn, win, come into, come in for, take possession of, take receipt of, be given
buy, purchase, procure, possess oneself of, secure
gather, collect, pick up, appropriate, amass, build up, hook, net, land
achieve, attain
informal get one's hands on, get one's mitts on, get hold of, grab, bag, score, swing, nab, collar, cop
give
2‘I was glad to get your letter’
receive, be sent, be in receipt of, accept delivery of, be given
send
3‘your tea's getting cold’
become, grow, turn, go, come to be, get to be
literary wax
4‘I'll get the children from school’
fetch, collect, go for, call for, pick up, bring, carry, deliver, convey, ferry, transport
escort, conduct, lead, usher
take, leave
5‘the chairman gets £650,000 a year’
earn, be paid, receive a salary of, take home, take home earnings of, bring in, make, receive, collect, clear, gross
informal pocket, bank, rake in, pull in, haul in, net, bag
6‘have the police got their man?’
apprehend, catch, arrest, capture, seize, take
take prisoner, take captive, take into custody, detain, put in jail, throw in jail, put behind bars, imprison, incarcerate
informal collar, grab, nab, nail, run in, pinch, bust, pick up, pull in, haul in, do, feel someone's collar
British informal nick
7‘I got a taxi in the end’
travel by, travel in, travel on, journey by, journey in, journey on
take, catch, use, make use of, utilize
8‘one winter she got flu’
succumb to, develop, come down with, go down with, sicken for, fall victim to, be struck down with, be stricken with, be afflicted by, be afflicted with, be smitten by, be smitten with
become infected by, become infected with, catch, contract, become ill with, become sick with, fall ill with, fall sick with, be taken ill with, show symptoms of
British go down with
informal take ill with
North American informal take sick with
9‘I got a sharp pain in my right arm’
experience, suffer, be afflicted with, undergo, sustain, feel, have
10‘I could get him on the radio and ask’
contact, get in touch with, communicate with, make contact with, reach, be in communication with
phone, call, ring up, radio, speak to, talk to
British get on to
informal get hold of
11‘I didn't get what he said’
hear, recognize, discern, distinguish, make out, pick out, perceive, follow, keep up with, take in
12‘sorry, I don't get the joke’
understand, comprehend, grasp, see, take in, fathom, follow, puzzle out, work out, perceive, apprehend, get to the bottom of, unravel, decipher
informal get the drift of, catch on to, latch on to, make head or tail of, figure out, get the picture, get the message
British informal twig, suss out, suss
13‘we got there early’
arrive, reach, come, make it, turn up, appear, put in an appearance, make an appearance, come on the scene, come up, approach, enter, present oneself, be along, come along, materialize
informal show up, show, roll in, roll up, blow in, show one's face
14‘we got her to go’
persuade, induce, prevail on, influence, talk round
wheedle into, talk into, cajole into, inveigle into
win over, bring around, sway
15‘I'd like to get to meet him sometime’
contrive, arrange, find a way, engineer a way, manage
succeed in, organize
informal work it, fix it
archaic compass
16‘I'll get supper if you wash up afterwards’
prepare, get ready, cook, make, put together, assemble, muster, dish up, concoct
informal fix, rustle up
British informal knock up
17‘I'll get him for that’
take revenge on, be revenged on, exact revenge on, wreak revenge on, get one's revenge on, avenge oneself on, take vengeance on, get even with, settle a score with, settle the score with, pay back, pay out, retaliate against, retaliate on, get back at, take reprisals against, exact retribution on, give someone their just deserts, give someone a dose of their own medicine, give someone a taste of their own medicine
give like for like, return like for like, give tit for tat, take an eye for an eye, take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
give someone their comeuppance
British get one's own back on
18‘He scratched his head. ‘You've got me there.’’
baffle, nonplus, perplex, puzzle, bewilder, mystify, bemuse, confuse, confound, disconcert, throw, set someone thinking
informal flummox, discombobulate, faze, stump, beat, fox, make someone scratch their head, floor, fog
archaic wilder, gravel, maze, cause to be at a stand, pose
19‘what gets me is how neurotic she is’
annoy, irritate, exasperate, anger, irk, vex, inflame, put out, nettle, needle, provoke, incense, infuriate, madden, rub up the wrong way, try someone's patience, make someone's blood boil, ruffle someone's feathers, make someone's hackles rise, get someone's hackles up, rattle someone's cage
informal aggravate, peeve, miff, rile, get to, hack off, get someone's back up, get on someone's nerves, get up someone's nose, get under someone's skin, get someone's goat, give someone the hump, get someone's dander up, get in someone's hair, be a thorn in someone's flesh, drive mad, drive crazy, drive nuts, make someone see red
British informal wind up, nark, get across, get someone's wick
North American informal tee off, tick off, eat, burn up
vulgar slang piss off
British vulgar slang get on someone's tits
Phrases
‘he has to rely on a wheelchair to get about’
move about, move around, travel
‘a photo will help to get the message across’
communicate, get over, put over, impart, convey, transmit, make understood, make clear, express
‘people with ideas and the desire to get ahead’
prosper, flourish, thrive, do well, get on well
succeed, be successful, make it, do all right for oneself, progress, make progress, make headway, advance, get on in the world, rise in the world, go up in the world, fly high, make one's mark, make good, become rich, strike gold, strike oil, be in clover
go places, get somewhere, go great guns, make the big time
1‘does he get along with his family?’
be friendly, be on friendly terms, be in harmony, be compatible, get on, feel a rapport
agree, see eye to eye, concur, be in agreement, be in accord, be in sympathy
be of the same mind, be of the same opinion, be of the same mind as, be of the same opinion as
hit it off, be on the same wavelength, be on the same wavelength as
2‘he was getting along well at school’
fare, manage, progress, advance, get on, do, cope, survive, muddle along, muddle through
succeed, prosper, flourish
get by, make out
1‘she certainly gets around’
travel, circulate, socialize, make the rounds
2‘her hope was that by convincing her mother to allow her to go, she would thus get around her father’
cajole, persuade, wheedle, coax, manoeuvre, prevail on, win someone over, bring someone round, sway, beguile, blarney, flatter, seduce, lure, entice, charm, tempt, inveigle, induce, influence, woo
talk into
sweet-talk, soft-soap, butter up, twist someone's arm
blandish
3‘we can get round these difficulties’
overcome, surmount, prevail over, triumph over, get the better of, master
get over, circumvent, find an answer to, find the answer to, find a solution to, find the solution to
sort out, take care of, resolve, solve, crack
deal with, cope with
lick
1‘it's difficult to get at the timbers once you have insulated’
access, gain access to, get to, reach, touch
2‘he had been got at by government officials’
corrupt, suborn, influence, bribe, buy off, pay off
give someone a backhander, give someone a sweetener, grease someone's palm, fix, square
nobble
3‘what are you getting at?’
imply, suggest, intimate, insinuate, hint, mean, intend, lead up to, drive at, allude to
4‘I don't like being got at’
criticize, pick on, find fault with, carp at, nag
bully, victimize, attack, tyrannize, torment, persecute, punish repeatedly and unfairly, discriminate against
have it in for, have a down on, be down on
be on at
‘the prisoners got away’
escape, run away, run off, get out, break out, break free, get free, break loose, make a break for it, bolt, flee, fly, take flight, make off, take off, decamp, abscond, take to one's heels, make a escape, make one's escape, make good one's escape, make a getaway, make one's getaway, beat a hasty retreat, show a clean pair of heels, run for it, make a run for it
disappear, vanish, slip away, steal away, sneak away
get out of someone's clutches
do a bunk, do a moonlight flit, cut and run, skedaddle, skip, head for the hills, do a disappearing act, do a vanishing act, fly the coop, take French leave, scarper, vamoose, hightail it, leg it
do a runner, hook it
take a powder, go on the lam
‘it's not our policy to let kidnappers get away with their crimes’
escape blame for, escape punishment for
‘they should get back at dawn’
return, come home, come back, arrive home, arrive back, come again
set out
‘she got her gloves back from the lost property office’
retrieve, regain, regain possession of, win back, recover, take back, recoup, reclaim, repossess, recapture, retake, redeem
find, find again, track down, trace
claw back
replevin, replevy
lose
‘she made the story up to get back at the teacher for punishing her’
take revenge on, be revenged on, exact revenge on, wreak revenge on, get one's revenge on, avenge oneself on, take vengeance on, get even with, settle a score with, settle the score with, pay back, pay out, retaliate against, retaliate on, take reprisals against, exact retribution on, let someone see how it feels, give someone their just deserts, give someone a dose of their own medicine, give someone a taste of their own medicine, give as good as one gets
give like for like, return like for like, give tit for tat, take an eye for an eye, take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
get, give someone their comeuppance
get one's own back on
forgive
‘please get back to me and let me know how things work out’
come back to
answer, reply to, respond to, give a response to
‘he had just enough money to get by’
manage, cope, survive, exist, subsist, muddle along, muddle through, scrape along, scrape by, scrape through, make ends meet, get on, get along, make do, barely have enough to live on, scarcely have enough to live on, keep the wolf from the door, keep one's head above water, scrimp, scrape a living
make out
‘sometimes I can laugh it off but inside it gets me down’
depress, make sad, sadden, make unhappy, cast down, make gloomy, make despondent, dispirit
break someone's spirit, dampen someone's spirit, dash someone's hopes, dishearten, demoralize, discourage, daunt, crush, shake, desolate, weigh down, weigh heavily on, hang over, oppress
upset, distress, grieve, haunt, harrow, cause suffering to, break someone's heart, make one's heart bleed, bring tears to one's eyes
give someone the blues, make someone fed up, knock the stuffing out of, knock for six, knock sideways
cheer someone up
‘he once again got down to work’
begin, start, make a start on, go about, set about, set to, get to work on, get going on, embark on, tackle, attack, address oneself to, buckle down to, undertake
commence
1‘Sally got off the bus outside her house’
alight, alight from, step off, climb off, dismount, dismount from, get down, get down from, descend, descend from, disembark, disembark from, leave, exit
deplane, deplane from, detrain, detrain from, debus
get on
2‘he was charged with fraud but got off’
escape punishment, be acquitted, be absolved, be cleared, be exonerated, be exculpated, be declared innocent, be found innocent, be vindicated
1‘we got on the train at Kinshasa’
board, enter, go on board, go aboard, step aboard, climb on, mount, ascend, embark, catch
hop on, jump on
emplane, entrain, embus
get off
2‘how are you getting on?’
fare, manage, progress, advance, get along, do, cope, survive, muddle along, muddle through
succeed, prosper, flourish
get by, make out
3‘he just got on with his job’
continue, proceed, go ahead, carry on, go on, keep on, press on, push on, press ahead, persist, persevere
keep at
stick at, stick with, soldier on with
give up
4‘my father and I don't get on’
be friendly, be on friendly terms, be in harmony, be compatible, get along, feel a rapport
agree, see eye to eye, concur, be in agreement, be in accord, be in sympathy, sympathize, be united, be as one man, accord
be of the same mind, be of the same opinion, be of the same mind as, be of the same opinion as
hit it off, be on the same wavelength, be on the same wavelength as
1‘several prisoners had got out’
escape, break out, break free, get free, break loose, make a break for it, bolt, clear out, run away, run off, get away, flee, fly, take flight, make off, take off, decamp, abscond, take to one's heels, make a escape, make one's escape, make good one's escape, make a getaway, make one's getaway, beat a hasty retreat, show a clean pair of heels, run for it, make a run for it
disappear, vanish, slip away, steal away, sneak away
get out of someone's clutches
bust, do a bunk, do a moonlight flit, cut and run, skedaddle, skip, head for the hills, do a disappearing act, do a vanishing act, fly the coop, take French leave, scarper, vamoose, hightail it, leg it
do a runner, hook it
take a powder, go on the lam
2‘the news has got out’
become known, become common knowledge, become apparent, come to light, emerge, transpire, materialize, prove to be the case
come out, be discovered, be uncovered, be made public, be revealed, be divulged, be disclosed, be reported, be publicized, be released, leak out
be noised about, be noised abroad
‘he tried to get out of paying the survivors any compensation’
evade, dodge, shirk, slide out of, avoid, escape, sidestep
duck, duck out of, wriggle out of, cop out of
skive off, funk
cut
duck-shove
decline
agree to
1‘I have only just got over flu’
recover from, recuperate from, get better after, pull through, shrug off, survive, come round from
sicken for
2‘to get over this problem the architect angled the exit into the piazza slightly’
overcome, surmount, prevail over, triumph over, get the better of, master
get round, circumvent, find an answer to, find the answer to, find a solution to, find the solution to
sort out, take care of, resolve, solve, crack
deal with, cope with
lick
‘that should get the point over to the manufacturers’
communicate, get across, put over, impart, convey, transmit, make understood, make clear, express
1‘he got round his mother and she bought it for him’
cajole, persuade, wheedle, coax, manoeuvre, prevail on, win someone over, bring someone round, sway, beguile, blarney, flatter, seduce, lure, entice, charm, tempt, inveigle, induce, influence, woo
talk into
sweet-talk, soft-soap, butter up, twist someone's arm
blandish
2‘we can get round these difficulties’
overcome, surmount, prevail over, triumph over, get the better of, master
get over, circumvent, find an answer to, find the answer to, find a solution to, find the solution to
sort out, take care of, resolve, solve, crack
deal with, cope with
lick
1‘I managed to get through the audition and land the job’
pass, be successful in, succeed in, gain a pass in, come through, meet the requirements of, pass muster in
come up to scratch in, come up to snuff in, sail through, scrape through
fail
2‘how did we get through a pack of twelve so fast?’
consume, go through, use, exhaust, deplete, expend, spend, waste, fritter away, squander, dissipate
3‘I never really got the chance to get through to her’
communicate with, get one's message across to, explain oneself to
4‘I think the message got through’
register, make an impression, sink in, fall into place, penetrate, have an effect, dawn, strike home, be understood
‘what really got to me was the lack of respect’
irritate, annoy, anger, vex, irk, nettle, pique, exasperate, infuriate, get on someone's nerves, rub up the wrong way, get someone's back up, put someone's back up, ruffle someone's feathers, try someone's patience
goad, provoke, bait, taunt, pester, harass, prick, prod, sting
aggravate, rile, niggle, hassle, bug, miff, peeve, get under someone's skin, get up someone's nose, hack off
wind up, get at, nark, get across
ride
piss off
exacerbate, hump, rasp
1‘your job is to get together the best bunch of writers you can find’
collect, gather, assemble, bring together, call together, rally, muster, marshal, line up, congregate, convene, amass, scrape together
convoke
disperse
2‘we must get together soon’
meet, meet up, have a meeting, rendezvous, see each other, socialize
‘Rose used to get up very early’
get out of bed, rise, stir, rouse oneself, bestir oneself, get going
surface, show signs of life
arise
go to bed
‘he was got up in his finery’
dress, clothe, attire, garb, fit out, turn out, deck, deck out, trick out, trick up, costume, array, robe, accoutre
doll up
bedizen
apparel