GET THE BETTER OF • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Get the better of

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/gɛt ðə bˈɛtər əv/ Listen

verb

Get v. t. (past got, obs. gat; past part. got or gotten; pres. part. getting)

1.

To procure; to obtain; to gain possession of; to acquire; to earn; to obtain as a price or reward; to come by; to win, by almost any means; as, to get favor by kindness; to get wealth by industry and economy; to get land by purchase, etc.

2.

Hence, with have and had, to come into or be in possession of; to have. "Thou hast got the face of man."

3.

To beget; to procreate; to generate. "I had rather to adopt a child than get it."

4.

To obtain mental possession of; to learn; to commit to memory; to memorize; as to get a lesson; also with out; as, to get out one's Greek lesson. "It being harder with him to get one sermon by heart, than to pen twenty."

5.

To prevail on; to induce; to persuade. "Get him to say his prayers."

6.

To procure to be, or to cause to be in any state or condition; with a following participle. "Those things I bid you do; get them dispatched."

7.

To betake; to remove; in a reflexive use. "Get thee out from this land." "He... got himself... to the strong town of Mega." Note: Get, as a transitive verb, is combined with adverbs implying motion, to express the causing to, or the effecting in, the object of the verb, of the kind of motion indicated by the preposition; thus, to get in, to cause to enter, to bring under shelter; as, to get in the hay; to get out, to make come forth, to extract; to get off, to take off, to remove; to get together, to cause to come together, to collect.

To get by heart, to commit to memory.

To get the better of, To get the best of, to obtain an advantage over; to surpass; to subdue.

To get up, to cause to be established or to exit; to prepare; to arrange; to construct; to invent; as, to get up a celebration, a machine, a book, an agitation.

Synonyms: To obtain; gain; win; acquire. See Obtain.

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Etymology of 'Get the better of'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Get the better of" Quotes from Famous Books

... play at that game," he said, settling himself back in the cab, "and I'll get the better of you, clever as you are—and you are clever," he went on in a tone of admiration, as he looked round the luxurious hansom, "to choose such a convenient place for a murder; no disturbance and plenty of time for escape after ...

— The Mystery of a Hansom Cab • Fergus Hume

... unsuccessful trader, an unsuccessful farmer, whose chief accomplishments in life were hunting and fishing, dancing and riding. The debate on the Stamp Act gave him a great opportunity. As he addressed his words of warning to the stubborn sovereign across the sea his passion seemed to get the better of his prudence and to tempt him into menace. "Caesar," he said, "had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell." He was going on to say "and George the Third," when he was interrupted by angry cries of "Treason!" from the ...

— A History of the Four Georges and of William IV, Volume III (of 4) • Justin McCarthy and Justin Huntly McCarthy

... health and spirits this week past than since my last illness—I continued so long so very weak & dejected I began to fear I should never be at all comfortable again. I strive against low spirits all I can, but it is a very hard thing to get the better of. ...

— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol. 5 • Edited by E. V. Lucas

... glance. His head, which he carried a little flung back, his voice, his easy and confident bearing—all these contradicted the saw and the hammer, the flannel shirt, open at the neck, the khaki trousers still bearing the price tag. And curiosity beginning to get the better of her, she was emboldened to pay a compliment to the fence. If one had to work, it must be a pleasure to work on things pleasing to the ...

— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... your self-restraint under temptation," she said; "it is characteristic of you in other circumstances, I believe"—this with discreet emphasis—"but, really, why should you dread letting this susceptibility get the better of you?" ...

— Stanford Stories - Tales of a Young University • Charles K. Field

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