get to the bottom of
/ˌɡet tə ðə ˈbɒtəm əv/NEUTRAL · B2
Meaning
to find out the real cause of something or the truth about it
Examples
- 1The engineer promised to get to the bottom of the strange noise in our boiler.
- 2We still haven't got to the bottom of why the website crashed on Friday.
- 3The head teacher is determined to get to the bottom of who broke the window.
- 4Maria spent a week checking bank statements and finally got to the bottom of the missing money.
- 5Did the police ever get to the bottom of the break-ins on our street?
Grammar
Only get changes: gets, getting, got. An object always follows of: a noun or a what/why clause.
More idioms about problems and trouble
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →the tip of the iceberga small visible part of a much larger problembe asking for troubleto act in a way that will probably cause problems for youmake a mountain out of a molehillto treat a small difficulty as if it were seriousa storm in a teacupa lot of anger or worry about something unimportantnip something in the budto stop a problem at an early stage before it growsa tough nut to cracka problem or person that is very hard to deal with
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
