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get around

B1 neutral inseparable both
In simple words

To travel to different places, or to find a way past a problem.

Literal meaning: To move around something or in a circular direction — which extends naturally to circumventing obstacles and moving about freely.

Meanings

1 A2 neutral

To travel to different places or to move freely from place to place.

"She uses a bicycle to get around the city."

Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 idiomatic neutral

To find a way to avoid or deal with a rule, problem, or obstacle.

"The lawyers found a way to get around the regulation."

"There's no getting around it."

— Common idiomatic phrase; used, for example, in Winston Churchill's wartime speeches and widely throughout English literature
Grammar: inseparable
3 B2 idiomatic informal

(Of news or information) to spread among many people.

"Word got around quickly that the director was leaving."

"It gets around."

— Common colloquial expression, widely used in American English journalism and fiction
Grammar: inseparable
4 B2 idiomatic informal

To persuade someone, usually by charm or flattery, to do what you want.

"She always knew how to get around her father when she wanted something."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

The sense 'to spread (of news or gossip)' is impersonal: 'Word gets around.' The sense of circumventing something is often used in legal or bureaucratic contexts.

Commonly used with

town city law problem obstacle word news

Forms

Base
get around
I/you/we/they
3rd person
gets around
he/she/it
Past simple
got around
yesterday
Past participle
got/gotten around
have + pp
-ing form
getting around
continuous

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Synonyms

travel move about circumvent bypass avoid spread (for news)

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