phrasal verb · informal

get the picture

UK/ɡet ðə ˈpɪktʃə/US/ɡet ðə ˈpɪktʃər/get·the·PIC·ture

speakingtask1

to understand the general situation or main point

Examples

After the explanation, I finally got the picture and could answer the question.

If you read the introduction and conclusion, you'll get the picture without every detail.

She didn't get the picture until someone explained the context.

Band 8 sentence

Reading a well-structured abstract allows the reader to get the picture of the research without delving into every method detail.

Collocations

  • get the picture from context
  • do you get the picture?

Word family

got the picture verb (past)getting the picture verb (gerund)

Common mistakes

get the picture ofget the picture

to get pictureto get the picture

Say it for a higher band

5understand6see the point7+get the picture

Synonyms

see the point

get the idea

Easily confused

get the idea

After a couple of examples, I got the idea of how to solve these problems.

see the point

I see your point, but I'm not convinced by the evidence.

Related words

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In get …

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