Word.ws English Dictionary

gets after

gets after is the third-person singular simple present indicative of get after.

Meaning of get after

Verb

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

  1. To move into action in pursuit of something.
    • He's wasting time at university not getting after his degree.
  2. To move into action in attempt to catch or defeat another.
    • These murders are an indication of a swing to the right in this country, and also of the economic situation. Americans get after minorities during economic hard times: Blacks, Jews, Catholics. It's our turn because we've been the most vocal lately.1980 August 16, Fran Koski, “Fourth Gay Man Murdered Here”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 6
  3. To attempt to convince another to move into action.
    • Parents get after their children to do homework for the best.

Questions about gets after

What is gets after the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Gets after is the third-person singular simple present indicative of get after.

Words near gets after in the dictionary

  1. gets about
  2. gets above oneself
  3. gets across
  4. gets across the line
  5. gets action
  6. gets after
  7. gets ahead
  8. gets ahead of
  9. gets ahead of oneself
  10. gets ahold of
  11. gets ahold of oneself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gets after (page history and authors); get after (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “gets after.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gets_after. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.