get/have a handle on

idiom

informal
: to understand and be able to deal with (something)
I can't quite get a handle on the way this machine works.
It seemed like she had a good handle on the situation.

Examples of get/have a handle on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Election Day is just days away and of all the critical issues at stake, there is one that has a fast-approaching deadline to get a handle on: climate change. Li Cohen, CBS News, 31 Oct. 2024 Urbazon | Istock | Getty Images Switzerland could be at risk of slipping into deflationary territory next year, as a stronger Swiss franc beleaguers policymakers’ efforts to get a handle on price growth. Karen Gilchrist, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2024 Meyer, 35 at the time, had been trying to get a handle on what was happening since the last week of January, when his officers responded to a series of unusual incidents involving the recent immigrants: Young children found alone in an apartment while their mothers were at work. Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, 24 Oct. 2024 That’s because Titus, too, isn’t an easy guy to get a handle on. Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 18 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for get/have a handle on 

Dictionary Entries Near get/have a handle on

Cite this Entry

“Get/have a handle on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%2Fhave%20a%20handle%20on. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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