get around

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

get around (third-person singular simple present gets around, present participle getting around, simple past got around, past participle (UK) got around or (US) gotten around)

1. To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path.

   The tide was too high, and we couldn't get around the rocks.

   There's no trail going through. We can't get around to the lake.

   We'll get a good view of the mountains when we get around the bend.

2. (figuratively) To avoid or bypass an obstacle.

   Tax consultants look for ways to get around the law.

3. To circumvent the obligation and performance of a chore; to get out of.

   How did you get around having to write the executive report?

   My brother always gets around cleaning his room himself.

4. To transport oneself from place to place.

   How's he gonna get around without a car?

   Granny uses a wheelchair to get around.

   • 2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:

     The Leicester Daily Mercury reflected on how these concerns were the result of changing ways of getting around: "It might sound a bit crazy or just a little revolting that at Christmas works parties, some should drink themselves into a near-insensible state... This was not serious when they used public transport, but today more men and women use their own cars."

5. To visit numerous different places.
   • 1964, Brian Wilson and Mike Love, I Get Around (Beach Boys song).

     I'm gettin' bugged driving up and down the same old strip
     I gotta find a new place where the kids are hip
     My buddies and me are getting real well known
     Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone
     I get around (get around round round I get around)
     From town to town (get around round round I get around)

6. (slang) To be sexually promiscuous.

   Wow, she really gets around.

7. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see get,‎ around.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• get round
• go around

Derived terms

• get around to
• word gets around

Translations

Translations

• Welsh: codi allan

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: omzeilen (nl)
• French: contourner (fr)
• Spanish: sortear (es)

Anagrams

• don't argue, don't-argue, outranged