get someone at it

verb

To have someone on, make fun of someone.

“I don't mean to get you at it, but can you make further changes to your article?”

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Meanings

verbget someone at it (third-person singular simple present gets someone at it, present participle getting someone at it, simple past got someone at it, past participle (UK) got someone at it or (US) gotten someone at it)

present singular third person gets someone at it · participle present getting someone at it · past got someone at it · UK participle past got someone at it · US participle past gotten someone at it

  1. slangtransitiveTo have someone on, make fun of someone.

    You see I did this on perpose(sic) just to get her at it.

    1958, Frank Norman, chapter 3, in Bang to Rights: An Account of Prison Life, page 136
    1 more example

    What he did'nt(sic) realise was that the boggie(sic - bogey(police officer)) was getting her at it.

    1958, Frank Norman, chapter 3, in Bang to Rights: An Account of Prison Life, page 151
  2. slangtransitiveTo get someone in a cycle of pointless iterations.

    I don't mean to get you at it, but can you make further changes to your article?

Cite this entry
APA

get someone at it. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20someone%20at%20it

MLA

“get someone at it.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20someone%20at%20it. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get someone at it,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20someone%20at%20it.

Source: get someone at it on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.