Word.ws English Dictionary

have someone there

have someone there verb: to put someone in a disadvantageous position, as in an argument, such that someone doesn't have an appropriate answer or solution.

Verb

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

  1. (colloquial, humorous, sometimes) To put someone in a disadvantageous position, as in an argument, such that someone doesn't have an appropriate answer or solution.
    • Ah, ha ha. He had you there, mate. Didn't he? That'll teach you a lesson.1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Mr. Cheeky (Eric Idle)
    • Well, at least the beer industry made it out of the Super Bowl without any wars waged between Anheuser-Busch and small and independent brewers. Just kidding! We totally had you there for a second.2018 February 8, Cat Wolinski, “Hop Take: Craft Breweries Are Fighting With AB InBev Over Disaster Relief Because of Course They Are”, in VinePair

Forms of have someone there

third-person singular presenthas someone there
present participlehaving someone there
past participlehad someone there
pasthad someone there

Questions about have someone there

What does have someone there mean?
Have someone there means to put someone in a disadvantageous position, as in an argument, such that someone doesn't have an appropriate answer or solution.
What part of speech is have someone there?
Have someone there is a verb.
What is the past tense of have someone there?
The past tense of have someone there is had someone there.

Words near have someone there in the dictionary

  1. have someone by the balls
  2. have someone by the short and curlies
  3. have someone by the short hairs
  4. have someone going
  5. have someone on toast
  6. have someone there
  7. have someone to rights
  8. have someone's back
  9. have someone's blood
  10. have someone's blood on one's head
  11. have someone's ear

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have someone there (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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