find out how the land lies



find out/see how the land lies

to get information about a situation before making decisions or taking action I thought I'd better call my mother and see how the land lies before inviting myself home for the weekend. (British & Australian)
See also: find, how, land, lie, out

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Ridwana-Arabic
LyydiaLUY:-dee-ahFinnish
Velimir-Croatian, Serbian, Medieval Slavic
Peer-Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Deforestdə-FAWR-əstEnglish
&Aelig;Lfsige-Anglo-Saxon