Word.ws English Dictionary

have the goods on

have the goods on is the alternative form of get the goods on.

Meaning of get the goods on

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To acquire knowledge or develop evidence that reveals the truth about someone's character or behavior, especially criminal behavior.
    • "Bob, they've got the goods on you. There's a warrant out."1914, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 19, in The Long Chance

Forms of have the goods on

third-person singular presenthas the goods on
present participlehaving the goods on
past participlehad the goods on
pasthad the goods on

Questions about have the goods on

What is have the goods on the alternative form of?
Have the goods on is the alternative form of get the goods on.

Words near have the goods on in the dictionary

  1. have the drains up
  2. have the drop on
  3. have the first idea
  4. have the floor
  5. have the foggiest
  6. have the goods on
  7. have the hang of
  8. have the heart
  9. have the hots for
  10. have the last laugh
  11. have the laugh on one's side

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have the goods on (page history and authors); get the goods on (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: “have the goods on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/have_the_goods_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.