How to Use get/have a handle on in a Sentence
get/have a handle on
idiom-
New trade agreements to rectify this oversight are needed if the world is to get a handle on food prices.
— Christopher B. Barrett, Foreign Affairs, 25 July 2022 -
In the letter, the church official was concerned something bad would happen if police did not get a handle on things.
— Vincent Hill, Baltimore Sun, 26 July 2024 -
In recent years, a number of states have tried to get a handle on the issue.
— Emily Tate Sullivan, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2024 -
The best way to get a handle on this divine welter is to take a walking tour.
— David Laskin Martin Pauer, New York Times, 1 May 2023 -
Nedeljkovic made 28 saves but couldn’t get a handle on Pelech's winner.
— Will Graves, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2024 -
The slaying comes as cops try to get a handle on an uptick in murders and assaults in and around Times Square.
— Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 9 July 2024 -
Most models have a handle on the top and rubber feet at the bottom to ensure a firm grip.
— Belle Duchene, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Feb. 2024 -
Crews had the Basin fire 17% contained after days of being unable to get a handle on the fire.
— Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2024 -
By then, the FBI was starting to get a handle on the extent of the problem — if not exactly what to do about it.
— Alex Morris, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2024 -
The feeling that the Stars have a handle on things took a bad spill Sunday night when Heiskanen went down for far, far too long.
— Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas News, 8 May 2023 -
How to get a handle on your finances after being let go from your job.
— Ron Lieber, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2023 -
As the summer begins, Bronx cops are trying to get a handle on an 8% jump in shootings in the borough this year.
— Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 25 June 2024 -
But even the most tech-savvy person might struggle to get a handle on every detail.
— Chelsea Leu, The Atlantic, 7 Nov. 2023 -
Towns around the state had tried various ways to get a handle on the issue, leading to a patchwork of efforts.
— Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 29 July 2022 -
Public health officials are still trying to get a handle on the drug, as well as how best to respond to it.
— Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Jan. 2023 -
It’s been a difficult condition to get a handle on, or treat.
— Josh Fischman, Scientific American, 29 Mar. 2023 -
At the end of the series, so many of the other characters seem to have a handle on their own equations and are moving forward with their lives.
— Vulture, 2 June 2023 -
As a result, governments struggle to get a handle on the real threats and risks already out there.
— Marietje Schaake, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020 -
School districts are trying to get a handle on the technology.
— Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024 -
The leak will only up the stakes for Fulton County to get a handle on a cyberattack that has hobbled services for weeks.
— Sean Lyngaas, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024 -
In parts of Portland, those ambitions have stalled as leaders try to get a handle on the mounting homeless crisis.
— Gwozniac, oregonlive, 30 July 2023 -
Impossible to get a handle on with one lone visit — or six visits even.
— Scott Hocker, theweek, 15 Apr. 2024 -
Also last month, a co-founder of Salt & Straw ice cream shops said the company would move its Southeast Portland headquarters out of state if the city didn’t get a handle on crime.
— oregonlive, 4 Dec. 2022 -
The company has been scrambling to raise cash to get a handle on liabilities that totaled about $187 billion at the end of June.
— BostonGlobe.com, 5 Sep. 2023 -
The good news is that the tide is turning and both businesses and investors are starting to get a handle on how to better support the recycling value chain.
— Rob Kaplan, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2022 -
The best way to get a handle on this is to have a qualified professional do an energy audit.
— Mark Philben, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Jan. 2022 -
Before anyone in the media or the music business could get a handle on it, a star was born out of left field — in his field, to be exact, in the town of North Dinwiddie, Virginia.
— David Browne, Rolling Stone, 17 Nov. 2023 -
But now, there’s a new term—and generation—to get a handle on: The honey badger generation.
— Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 26 Jan. 2024 -
Delta culled its schedule in July and into August and is planning to hold off on additional growth for the rest of the year in an effort to get a handle on its problems.
— Alison Sider, WSJ, 13 July 2022 -
In September, the IRS took the unusual step of temporarily stopping processing claims to get a handle on the fraud.
— Susan Tompor, USA TODAY, 30 June 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'get/have a handle on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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