get hold of

English

Alternative forms

• get a hold of
• get ahold of (sometimes proscribed)
• get hold on
• get a hold on

Verb

get hold of (third-person singular simple present gets hold of, present participle getting hold of, simple past got hold of, past participle (UK) got hold of or (US) gotten hold of)

1. (transitive) To obtain.
   • 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, pages 54–55:

     However, a Carlisle newspaper got hold of the story, and at the half-yearly meeting of the Caledonian Railway Company, held on March 17, 1863, a shareholder, Mr. Meiklem, questioned the Chairman, Lt.-Col. Salkeld, regarding a "Chase of Engines," described in the newspaper article. The Chairman admitted that the statements made in the article were perfectly true.

   • 1987, Withnail and I:

     Withnail: I want to stop and get hold of a child.

2. (transitive) To pick up or grab.
   • 1987, Withnail and I:

     I: Now get hold of that map.

3. (transitive) To contact (a person).

   Get hold of John and tell him the meeting's been canceled.

4. (transitive) To control or stabilize (oneself).

   Get hold of yourself!

Translations

to obtain

• Finnish: saada käsiinsä

to pick up or grab

• Finnish: ottaa (fi), ottaa käteensä

to contact

• Finnish: ottaa yhteyttä (fi), saada kiinni

to control or stabilize oneself

• Finnish: ryhdistäytyä (fi), koota itsensä
• Latin: me recolligo

Further reading

• “get hold of”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.