get across

verb

got across; got across or gotten across; getting across; gets across

intransitive verb

: to become clear or convincing

transitive verb

: to make clear or convincing

we couldn't get our point across

Synonyms

• clarify
• clear (up)
• construe
• demonstrate
• demystify
• elucidate
• explain
• explicate
• expound
• illuminate
• illustrate
• interpret
• simplify
• spell out
• unriddle

Examples of get across in a Sentence

what I'm trying to get across is that there simply is no money for the project

Recent Examples on the Web

What was once a Google Doc on my computer in the summer of 2020, when the president was running, then became legislative text that [then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, in partnership with the president and vice president, were able to get across the finish line. —Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025

The same can be said of its overtime losses to Providence on Dec. 10 and Seton Hall on Jan. 8, two other chances to stop the streak in which DePaul had a lead late and couldn’t get across the finish line. —Lindsay Schnell, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025

The 2024 elections changed the composition of the Tennessee statehouse such that Governor Lee’s effort to enact universal school choice now appears likely to get across the finish line in 2025. —Patrick Gleason, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025

Caspar arrived late—he’d had trouble getting across town. —Brandon Taylor, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

get across

verb

: to make or become clear

got the point across