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Get ahead   /gɛt əhˈɛd/   Listen
verb
Get  v. i.  (past got, obs. gat; past part. got or gotten; pres. part. getting)  
1.
To make acquisition; to gain; to profit; to receive accessions; to be increased. "We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get."
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." "His chariot wheels get hot by driving fast." 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. 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."
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.
(a)
To enter, as, "she prepared to get into the coach."
(b)
To pass into, or reach; as, " a language has got into the inflated state."
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.
(a)
To pass over, surmount, or overcome, as an obstacle or difficulty.
(b)
To recover from, as an injury, a calamity.
To get through.
(a)
To pass through something.
(b)
To finish what one was doing.
To get up.
(a)
To rise; to arise, as from a bed, chair, etc.
(b)
To ascend; to climb, as a hill, a tree, a flight of stairs, etc.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Get ahead" Quotes from Famous Books



... eat supper by himself, but if he sold papers until he was almost asleep where he stood, he found he went to sleep as soon as he reached home and had supper. He did not awaken until morning; then he could hurry his work and get ahead of the other boys, and maybe sell to their customers. It might be bad to be alone, but always he could remember her, and make her seem present by doing every day exactly what she told him. Then, after all, being alone was ...
— Michael O'Halloran • Gene Stratton-Porter

... enterprising young lady slipped away, and with Belle's help caught and saddled her pony, and was off to Redford as if wolves were at her heels. No war correspondent on active service ever did a smarter trick to get ahead of other papers. ...
— Sisters • Ada Cambridge

... in the item, and I would have omitted them but for a desire that Blissam should not get ahead of me; so I started for the store to learn something about it. On the way I met Blissam, and I put it right at him. "Are you quoting Quickenbush ...
— A Man of Samples • Wm. H. Maher

... most important New York scenes has already been made. It was this one which was being tested when Wilson went in there. Had he seen it all he might have guessed at the rest of our plans and our rivals, the International people, would have been able to get ahead of us. They are always on the alert to take the ideas of other concerns. But I think I'll ...
— The Moving Picture Girls at Rocky Ranch - Or, Great Days Among the Cowboys • Laura Lee Hope

... which charged the instruments, or so it seemed anyway. Now there were no less than four boys in that office who answered to the name of "Tom." So you may imagine, can't you, what, stampede there was every time the chief operator called "Tom." But don't imagine our Tom ever let anyone else get ahead of him. Although he was the youngest and probably the least in requisition, he was always "Johnny on the spot" before any of the Toms. To solve this dilemma which was first considered a joke but later developed into an unmitigated nuisance, the chief operator eventually said ...
— Reno - A Book of Short Stories and Information • Lilyan Stratton


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