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
Lawson['lɔ:sn]
Colby['kəulbi]
Jaffe-Hebrew
NestorNES-tor (English)Greek Mythology, Russian
Menelaus-Greek Mythology (Latinized)
AshlynASH-linEnglish (Modern)