get onto

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get onto

vb (preposition)

1. Also: get on to board or cause or help to board (a bus, train, etc)

2. (intr) to make contact with; communicate with

3. (intr) to become aware of (something illicit or secret): the boss will get onto their pilfering unless they're careful.

4. (intr) to deliver a demand, request, or rebuke to: I'll get onto the manufacturers to replace these damaged goods.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Verb

get onto - understand, usually after some initial difficulty; "She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on"

catch on, cotton on, get it, get wise, twig, latch on, tumble

apprehend, comprehend, get the picture, grok, savvy, grasp, compass, dig - get the meaning of something; "Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?"

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References in periodicals archive ?

By ELIAS MAKORIbrIN GOLD COASTChristine Ongare spared Kenya's boxing team the embarrassment of a total annihilation by getting onto the medal podium on Wednesday with victory in the women's flyweight contest at the Oxenford Studios.With the rest of Team Kenya's boxers sent home without a medal, Ongare was the last of the 11-strong squad to get onto the ring, and she was under immense pressure in her quarter-final bout of the 51-kilogramme category.

Kenya's Ongare now assured of bronze after quarters win

Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, said during his ongoing experiments he has found that bugs get onto a phone because it is so close to our hands and mouths.

Why your cellphone has more germs than a toilet

Sam adds: "These First Time Buyer events are going to act like a 'one stop shop' - not only will visitors be able to look at the new homes that are within a first time buyer budget, they'll be able to find out about the schemes in place to help them get onto the ladder and can speak to a financial adviser about the best mortgage deals."?