1. Home
2. Idioms
3. get to the bottom of

get to the bottom of

---

---

get to the bottom of something

Fig. to get an understanding of the causes of something. We must get to the bottom of this problem immediately. There is clearly something wrong here, and I want to get to the bottom of it.

See also: bottom, get, of

get to the bottom of something

to discover the truth about something The electric company has not yet gotten to the bottom of why we had such a huge blackout.

See also: bottom, get, of

get to the bottom of something

to discover the truth about a situation (often + question word) The family finally got to the bottom of why their boy was killed. How will investigators get to the bottom of the affair with so little evidence?

See also: bottom, get, of

get to the bottom of

Find the basic underlying quality or cause of something. For example, He was determined to get to the bottom of the problem. [Late 1700s] Also see at bottom.

See also: bottom, get, of