to get to one's feet
20
2.9
- phrasal verb
:
ponerse de pie
- How do you think you can help, Doctor?" Vince got to his feet as he asked the question.
- got to his feet slowly
- struggled to get to his feet
- Eventually, he got to his feet
Examples
-
Two men stepped on him before he managed to get to his feet.
Fiction book (1992) -
With difficulty, he got to his feet and walked over to Rachel.
Fiction book (1992) -
I want you to get to your feet.
-
Dad, come on, get to your feet.
-
Well, I got to my feet and I started toward her.
-
Harry slowly gets to his feet and goes into the other room to use the phone.
Fiction book (1990) -
It takes all her strength just to get to her feet.
-
Reluctantly, she collected herself, pushed back the chair, and got to her feet.
Fiction book (1990) -
Smiling, she got to her feet and guided him to Vera, who escorted him out.
Fiction book (1992) -
After the final whistle blew, the players quickly got to their feet to applaud the fans.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To be or put something in an upright position
695
1.0
To stand up from sitting or lying down
559
1.0
To get up from sitting or lying and be on your feet
319
1.0
To get up from bed or from a sitting position
44
3.0
Get up from bed, a chair, or the floor
4
6.8
Stand up and start moving to dance or join in
To stand up from sitting or lying down
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
get + to + one's + foot
The meaning 'to stand up' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'get' (move into/acquire), 'to' (toward), and 'one's feet' (the standing position). This is a common, compositional motion/state-change expression found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Get to one's feet shows a simple picture of someone getting up onto their feet after sitting, lying down, or being knocked down. So it now means 'to stand up' and is often used to mean 'to recover' after a problem.