Word.ws English Dictionary

learned the ropes

learned the ropes is the simple past and past participle of learn the ropes.

Meaning of learn the ropes

Verb

learn the ropes (third-person singular simple present learns the ropes, present participle learning the ropes, simple past and past participle learned the ropes or learnt the ropes)

  1. (informal) To learn the basics or master introductory knowledge.
    • Work slowly and cautiously until you have learned the ropes.
  2. (informal) To learn some skill requiring specialist knowledge.
    • While it is unlikely that [Lonny] Baxter plays a significant role immediately, he will be able to learn the ropes of interior play from such veterans as [Dikembe] Mutumbo, Yao [Ming], and [Juwan] Howard.2005, “2005–2006 Houston Rockets Season Preview”, in National Basketball Association, archived from the original on 01 May 2008

Forms of learned the ropes

alternative formlearnt the ropes

Questions about learned the ropes

What is learned the ropes the simple past and past participle of?
Learned the ropes is the simple past and past participle of learn the ropes.

Words near learned the ropes in the dictionary

  1. learned profession
  2. learned professions
  3. learned societies
  4. learned society
  5. learned the hard way
  6. learned the ropes
  7. learned to walk before one could run
  8. learned treatise
  9. learned treatises
  10. learnedest
  11. learnedism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: learned the ropes (page history and authors); learn the ropes (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: “learned the ropes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/learned_the_ropes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.