get away with sth
phr. v..phr. v.. to do something wrong or illegal and not get caught or punished for it.
phr. v.. to escape the consequences of a wrongful act; to perform an action that is technically prohibited without receiving a penalty.
He thinks he can get away with cheating.
The thief managed to get away with the crime because there were no witnesses present.
In many corporate scandals, high-level executives often get away with financial misconduct while lower-level employees face the full weight of the law.
- Particles
- away with
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- get + away + with + object
usually followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form) representing the bad action.
contrast with 'get away' (to escape a place); the addition of 'with' shifts the focus from the physical escape to the lack of punishment for a specific deed.
She got away with steal the car.She got away with stealing the car.the preposition 'with' must be followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form).