to know one's way around
29
4.8
- phrasal verb
:
conocer bien
- She knows her way around the local area, so she can help us find the best restaurants.
- know your way around a kitchen
- know your way around a computer
- know your way around a courtroom
Examples
-
Few people know their way around Nine Mile.
Academic text (2007) -
He was a good man and he really knew his way around this business.
-
You seem to really know your way around the place.
-
My, you certainly do know your way around a kitchen.
-
You already know your way around the house.
-
I know my way around a kitchen.
-
I think you know your way around a car, Miss Fisher.
-
"You certainly know your way around the Baron's house," he said.
Fiction book (1997) -
Pam was with the Brooklyn D.A.'s office for fourteen years, so she knows her way around the local scene.
Fiction book (1997) -
I know my way around these old halls as well as yourself, Bruenor Battlehammer.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To be familiar with someone, something, or a place from before
16
4.2
To understand something well enough to deal with it
10
6.0
Knowing a place or subject very well
6
8.1
A person who has a lot of experience from many situations
To have a lot of skill and information about a subject
Antonyms
How Familiar
29
4.8
279
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally built from 'know' (be familiar) plus 'one's way around' (the routes or manner of getting about), so a learner who knows the words can infer knowing how to navigate a place or topic. This motion-to-familiarity mapping is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and the metaphorical extension to non-spatial domains is predictable, making the phrase readily understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Know one's way around gives a simple picture: if you know the way and what is around you, you can move through a place without getting lost. That's why it means 'to be familiar with' a place or topic and able to deal with it.