Dictionary

get the hang of en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• (US) audio

Meanings

1. (colloquial, idiomatic) To begin to understand or manage at a basic level; to learn to handle with some skill.
   • We got the hang of [caring for a baby], Kate and I, with some quiet, surprising guidance from a gentle male nurse whose touching lack of intrusion was so instinctive as to seem part of the pattern. 1995, Gill Van Hasselt, Childbirth: Your Choices for Managing Pain, Taylor Pub, →ISBN:
   • But just when I thought I’d gotten the hang of things, a snake chased me into a deeper level of the labyrinth! Everything’s on hard mode down here. 2018 March, Okina Baba, translated by Jenny McKeon, So I’m a Spider, So What?, volume 2, New York, N.Y.: Yen Press, →ISBN, back cover:
   • Driving feels awkward when you’re new to it, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it.
   • He felt like he was playing a new board game and was just getting the hang of the rules. 2002, Shelby Lewis, Simply Marvelous, page 83:
   • I'd hardly used them either, do you know what I mean; I was just getting the hang of them when the Lord and Master decided they had to come off. There was no consultation, no let's sit down and chat about the pros and cons, just woof, off with his bollocks. 2008, Fabian Black, The Stationmaster's House, →ISBN, page 83:
   • The shotlist should be short — if you find yourself typing up more than one page per scene, you're not really getting the hang of it. Use common terminology whenever possible. From the shotlist, the DP can figure out, to some extent, how many lighting changes each scene will require. 2013, Arthur Vincie, Preparing for Takeoff: Preproduction for the Independent Filmmaker:

Forms

Translations (38)

cmn 上手 (to learn to handle with some skill) · de die Kurve heraushaben (to learn to handle with some skill) · eo kutimiĝi al (to learn to handle with some skill) · fr se débrouiller (to learn to handle with some skill) · pt pegar o jeito (to learn to handle with some skill) · cmn 搞定 (to learn to handle with some skill) · ro a se prinde cum se face (to learn to handle with some skill) · tr bir şeyin havasına girmek (to learn to handle with some skill) · hu kapiskál (to learn to handle with some skill) · ro a căpăta deprinderea de a (to learn to handle with some skill) · no få draget på (to learn to handle with some skill) · fi päästä jyvälle (to learn to handle with some skill) · ro a se deprinde cu (to learn to handle with some skill) · nl iets onder de knie beginnen te krijgen (to learn to handle with some skill) · ru наловчиться (to learn to handle with some skill) · it prenderci la mano con (to learn to handle with some skill) · de etwas in den Griff bekommen (to learn to handle with some skill) · fr avoir en main (to learn to handle with some skill) · de mit etwas umgehen lernen (to learn to handle with some skill) · eo ekkompreni kiel io funkcias (to learn to handle with some skill) · tr kavramak (to learn to handle with some skill) · pl załapywać (to learn to handle with some skill) · gd thig suas ri (to learn to handle with some skill) · es hallarle la vuelta a (to learn to handle with some skill) · pt pegar a manha (to learn to handle with some skill) · sv få kläm på (to learn to handle with some skill) · es agarrarle la onda (to learn to handle with some skill) · de etwas in den Griff kriegen (to learn to handle with some skill) · nl snappen hoe het werkt (to learn to handle with some skill) · de etwas kapieren (to learn to handle with some skill) · tr bir şeyin usulünü öğrenmek (to learn to handle with some skill) · pl załapać (to learn to handle with some skill) · eo lertiĝi pri (to learn to handle with some skill) · es coger el tranquillo (to learn to handle with some skill) · es cogerle el truco a (to learn to handle with some skill) · cmn 學會做 /学会做 (to learn to handle with some skill) · nl iets doorhebben (to learn to handle with some skill) · tr bir şeyi anlamak (to learn to handle with some skill)