Phrase guide

get to the bottom of

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To come to understand, discover the truth about, or solve.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, informal, transitive

Examples

  • I don't know what's going on here, but I'll get to the bottom of it sooner or later.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: puzzle out, sleuth, work out, absolve, decipher, get to the bottom of, iron out, meliorate, ravel, reason out, resolve, riddle, solve, tease out, think out, unpuzzle, unravel, unriddle, unsolve, upsolve, Any from Thesaurus:untangle

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 追根究底 (zhuīgēnjiūdǐ) — understand the truth about
  • Finnish: ottaa selvää — understand the truth about
  • Finnish: selvittää — understand the truth about
  • German: einer Sache auf den Grund gehen — understand the truth about
  • Hungarian: végére jár — understand the truth about
  • Hungarian: utánajár — understand the truth about
  • Hungarian: kiderít — understand the truth about
  • Icelandic: komast til botns í — understand the truth about
  • Icelandic: grafa fyrir ræturnar á — understand the truth about
  • Icelandic: grafast fyrir um — understand the truth about
  • Icelandic: kryfja til mergjar — understand the truth about
  • Icelandic: þegar öll kurl eru komin til grafar — understand the truth about
  • Norwegian Bokmål: komme til bunns i — understand the truth about
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: koma til botns i — understand the truth about
  • Polish: docierać do sedna — understand the truth about
  • Polish: dotrzeć do sedna — understand the truth about
  • Spanish: llegar al fondo del asunto — understand the truth about