Word.ws English Dictionary

getting after

getting after is the present participle and gerund 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 getting after

What is getting after the present participle and gerund of?
Getting after is the present participle and gerund of get after.

Words near getting after in the dictionary

  1. getting a wriggle on
  2. getting about
  3. getting above oneself
  4. getting across
  5. getting across the line
  6. getting after
  7. getting ahead
  8. getting ahead of
  9. getting ahead of oneself
  10. getting ahold of
  11. getting ahold of oneself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: getting 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: “getting after.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/getting_after. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.