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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To get on

Get \Get\ (g[e^]t), v. i.

  1. To make acquisition; to gain; to profit; to receive accessions; to be increased.

    We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get.
    --Shak.

  2. To arrive at, or bring one's self into, a state, condition, or position; to come to be; to become; -- with a following adjective or past participle belonging to the subject of the verb; as, to get sober; to get awake; to get beaten; to get elected. To get rid of fools and scoundrels. --Pope. His chariot wheels get hot by driving fast. --Coleridge. Note: It [get] gives to the English language a middle voice, or a power of verbal expression which is neither active nor passive. Thus we say to get acquitted, beaten, confused, dressed. --Earle. Note: Get, as an intransitive verb, is used with a following preposition, or adverb of motion, to indicate, on the part of the subject of the act, movement or action of the kind signified by the preposition or adverb; or, in the general sense, to move, to stir, to make one's way, to advance, to arrive, etc.; as, to get away, to leave, to escape; to disengage one's self from; to get down, to descend, esp. with effort, as from a literal or figurative elevation; to get along, to make progress; hence, to prosper, succeed, or fare; to get in, to enter; to get out, to extricate one's self, to escape; to get through, to traverse; also, to finish, to be done; to get to, to arrive at, to reach; to get off, to alight, to descend from, to dismount; also, to escape, to come off clear; to get together, to assemble, to convene. To get ahead, to advance; to prosper. To get along, to proceed; to advance; to prosper. To get a mile (or other distance), to pass over it in traveling. To get among, to go or come into the company of; to become one of a number. To get asleep, to fall asleep. To get astray, to wander out of the right way. To get at, to reach; to make way to. To get away with, to carry off; to capture; hence, to get the better of; to defeat. To get back, to arrive at the place from which one departed; to return. To get before, to arrive in front, or more forward. To get behind, to fall in the rear; to lag. To get between, to arrive between. To get beyond, to pass or go further than; to exceed; to surpass. ``Three score and ten is the age of man, a few get beyond it.'' --Thackeray. To get clear, to disengage one's self; to be released, as from confinement, obligation, or burden; also, to be freed from danger or embarrassment. To get drunk, to become intoxicated. To get forward, to proceed; to advance; also, to prosper; to advance in wealth. To get home, to arrive at one's dwelling, goal, or aim. To get into.

    1. To enter, as, ``she prepared to get into the coach.''
      --Dickens.

    2. To pass into, or reach; as, `` a language has got into the inflated state.'' --Keary. To get loose or To get free, to disengage one's self; to be released from confinement. To get near, to approach within a small distance. To get on, to proceed; to advance; to prosper. To get over.

      1. To pass over, surmount, or overcome, as an obstacle or difficulty.

      2. To recover from, as an injury, a calamity. To get through.

        1. To pass through something.

        2. To finish what one was doing. To get up.

          1. To rise; to arise, as from a bed, chair, etc.

          2. To ascend; to climb, as a hill, a tree, a flight of stairs, etc.

Usage examples of "to get on".

His wife, who was terrified of drowning, refused to get on the boat again, and eventually Verne sold it.

Anything else was a matter for the Navy to deal with, and some of the interest in his eyes faded as he waited for them to get on with it.

Hollering into the dark was about as brave as I was going to get on the cellar investigation.

I wanted to get on one of the ten-year exchange groups to their home planet, but I couldn't, the quota was filled a week after they made the announcement.

Nevertheless he instinctively tried to get on to his feet and failed.