'To get the better of' definitions:

Definition of 'To get the better of'

From: GCIDE
  • Get \Get\ (g[e^]t), v. t. [imp. Got (g[o^]t) (Obs. Gat (g[a^]t)); p. p. Got (Obsolescent Gotten (g[o^]t"t'n)); p. pr. & vb. n. Getting.] [OE. geten, AS. gitan, gietan (in comp.); akin to Icel. geta, Goth. bigitan to find, L. prehendere to seize, take, Gr. chanda`nein to hold, contain. Cf. Comprehend, Enterprise, Forget, Impregnable, Prehensile.]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Hence, with have and had, to come into or be in possession of; to have. --Johnson. [1913 Webster]
  • Thou hast got the face of man. --Herbert. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To beget; to procreate; to generate. [1913 Webster]
  • I had rather to adopt a child than get it. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • It being harder with him to get one sermon by heart, than to pen twenty. --Bp. Fell. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To prevail on; to induce; to persuade. [1913 Webster]
  • Get him to say his prayers. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To procure to be, or to cause to be in any state or condition; -- with a following participle. [1913 Webster]
  • Those things I bid you do; get them dispatched. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. To betake; to remove; -- in a reflexive use. [1913 Webster]
  • Get thee out from this land. --Gen. xxxi. 13. [1913 Webster]
  • He . . . got himself . . . to the strong town of Mega. --Knolles. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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.
  • Syn: To obtain; gain; win; acquire. See Obtain. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'To get the better of'