get your bearings

Meaning

1. 1phraseidiom

   To work out where you are or become familiar with an unfamiliar place or situation so that you can act with confidence.

   Grammar: The possessive matches the subject: I got my bearings, they got their bearings.

   Patterns

   • get your bearings in something
   • need time to get your bearings

   It took me a few minutes to get my bearings after leaving the subway.

   Give the new employees a week to get their bearings.

   She climbed a hill to get her bearings and spot the village.

Word forms

Common combinations

take time to get your bearings

Take time to get your bearings before making any big decisions.

help someone get their bearings

A map helps visitors get their bearings.

still getting my bearings

I'm still getting my bearings in the new city.

lose your bearings

In the fog we completely lost our bearings.

quickly get your bearings

She quickly got her bearings in the unfamiliar office.

Synonyms and how they differ

orient yourself

Orient yourself is more formal and literal, while get your bearings is a common idiom for both places and situations.

find your feet

Find your feet stresses gaining confidence in a new role, whereas get your bearings stresses understanding where you are.

settle in

Settle in implies becoming comfortable over time, while get your bearings is the earlier step of understanding the layout or situation.

Opposites

Word family

bearing noun

a direction measured from a fixed point

bearings noun

your sense of position or direction

disoriented adjective

having lost your sense of direction

orientation noun

introduction to a new place or job

Commonly confused: get your bearings or bare?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “get your bearings”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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