Word.ws English Dictionary

had someone's number

had someone's number is the simple past and past participle of have someone's number.

Meaning of have someone's number

Verb

have someone's number (third-person singular simple present has someone's number, present participle having someone's number, simple past and past participle had someone's number)

  1. (idiomatic) To understand a person's character, capabilities, or situation.
    • "Whenever a person says to you that they are as innocent as can be in all concerning money, look well after your own money, for they are dead certain to collar it, if they can. Whenever a person proclaims to you ‘In worldly matters I’m a child,’ you consider that that person is only a crying off...1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 57, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have, someone's, number.

Questions about had someone's number

What is had someone's number the simple past and past participle of?
Had someone's number is the simple past and past participle of have someone's number.

Words near had someone's number in the dictionary

  1. had someone's ear
  2. had someone's guts for garters
  3. had someone's head
  4. had someone's hide
  5. had someone's nose wide open
  6. had someone's number
  7. had someone's six
  8. had something going for one
  9. had something going with someone
  10. had something on good authority
  11. had something over someone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: had someone's number (page history and authors); have someone's number (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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