get (one's) number
(redirected from got someone's number)get (one's) number
1. To obtain someone's phone number, often when there is a romantic interest between the two people. Oh please, there's no way you'll be able to get that hot girl's number.
2. To understand or know someone or something well enough to anticipate what they will do. Oh, don't worry, I've got his number—he's a typical brat.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
get someone's number
Also, have someone's number. Determine or know one's real character or motives, as in You can't fool Jane; she's got your number. This expression uses number in the sense of "a precise appraisal." Charles Dickens had it in Bleak House (1853): "Whenever a person proclaims to you, 'In worldly matters I'm a child,' ... that person is only crying off from being held accountable ... and you have got that person's number." [Mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.