get wise

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

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

1. (intransitive, slang, often with "to" or with "with") To be impertinent.

   He was getting wise, so I cracked him one.

   He wasn't just getting wise, he was getting wise to my mother.

2. (intransitive, slang, often with "to") To become aware of or see through a deception.

   Last night, I thought he'd sign the deal, but this morning he'd got wised somehow.

   The substitute soon got wise to their particular tricks.

   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 8, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 254:

     'How did you get wise to all this, that's what I want to know?'

Translations

(slang) to see through deceit

• Italian: mangiare la foglia