to get back
24
4.2
- phrasal verb
- /ɡɛt bæk/
- Informal
:
vengarse de
- I just wanted to get back at Roger.
- just got back
- way to get back
- try to get back
I don't appreciated being used as a gossip, you know, tool for you to get back at your boyfriend.
- I don't appreciated being used as a gossip, you know, tool for you to get back at your boyfriend.
- Instead of saying screw you world, I'm going to get back at you or screw you world, you're not going to touch me.
Examples
-
You think this is a way to get back at me for what I did to you.
Fiction book (2000) -
After he hurt her feelings, she decided it was time to get back at him with a playful prank.
-
We get back at them.
-
Maybe she was just using you to try and get back at some guy.
Fiction book (2001) -
I fear what future conservative Republicans are going to do to get back at them.
-
You're just trying to get back at me for what I did this morning.
-
Then suddenly she had an idea, a way of getting back at Devin.
Fiction book (2001) -
She chose this particular method, because she wanted to get back at me.
-
Maybe it was to get back at Dad for marrying the housekeeper.
-
They want to get back at the first-years!
Synonyms
∞
2.3
To score a point or goal in a game
188
3.3
Resist an attack or criticism by responding
105
7.3
To hurt someone because they hurt you
95
4.9
Punish someone who hurt you or someone you care about
77
5.6
To do something to hurt someone because they hurt you
46
5.4
To do something to hurt someone because they hurt you
36
8.6
To take revenge on someone who harmed you
34
4.9
To fight back after someone attacks or hurts you
29
8.2
To get revenge on someone for something they did
9
3.2
Do something to someone to hurt them for what they did
9
4.2
To harm someone because they hurt you or someone you care about
1
5.1
Take revenge on someone for a wrong
Treat someone in the same bad way they treated you
Antonyms
How Vengeful
9
4.2
105
7.3
- Informal
24
4.2
- Informal
42
4.8
370
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
get + back
The revenge sense is a metaphorical extension of the basic idea of 'return' in get + back (i.e. "give something back" or "return something"), so a learner who knows both words might infer some notion of reciprocation but not specifically 'take revenge'. The specific idiomatic use (often with 'get back at someone' or 'get someone back') requires pragmatic/colloquial knowledge and is not fully predictable from the constituents, so it is partially transparent.
Etymology
Get back The phrasal verb get back may come from the image of returning a hurt: you get something back at the person who hurt you, like doing the same thing to them. That's why it means 'to take revenge'.