gain
verbEtymology
From Middle English gayn, gain, gein (“profit, advantage”), from Old Norse gagn (“benefit, advantage, use”), from Proto-Germanic *gagną, *gaganą (“gain, profit", literally "return”), from Proto-Germanic *gagana (“back, against, in return”), a reduplication of Proto-Germanic *ga- (“with, together”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”). Cognate with Icelandic gagn (“gain, advantage, use”), Swedish gagn (“benefit, profit”), Danish gavn (“gain, profit, success”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌴𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gageigan, “to gain, profit”), Old Norse gegn (“ready”), dialectal Swedish gen (“useful, noteful”), Latin cum (“with”); see gain-, again, against. Compare also Middle English gaynen, geinen (“to be of use, profit, avail”), Icelandic and Swedish gagna (“to avail, help”), Danish gavne (“to benefit”). The Middle English word was reinforced by Middle French gain (“gain, profit, advancement, cultivation”), from Old French gaaing, gaaigne, gaigne, a noun derivative of gaaignier, gaigner (“to till, earn, win”), from Frankish *waiþanōn (“to pasture, graze, hunt for food”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waiþiz, *waiþō, *waiþijō (“pasture, field, hunting ground”); compare Old High German weidōn, weidanōn (“to hunt, forage for food”) (Modern German Weide (“pasture”)), Old Norse veiða (“to catch, hunt”), Old English wǣþan (“to hunt, chase, pursue”). Related to wide.
Definitions
To acquire possession of.
- Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.
- What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
- Another answers, ‘Let him be, He loves to make parade of pain, That with his piping he may gain The praise that comes to constancy.’
To have or receive advantage or profit
To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
- The sick man gains daily.
- Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.
To come off winner or victor in
To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
- to gain a battle; to gain a case at law
›+ 19 more definitionsshow fewer
To increase.
- Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.
- to gain ground
- I’m gaining (on you).
To reach.
- to gain the top of a mountain
- Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.
To draw into any interest or party
To draw into any interest or party; to win to one’s side; to conciliate.
- If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
- to gratify the queen, and gain the court
To put on weight.
- I’ve been gaining.
- Thinspo, bonespo, meanspo, sweetspo, anything that could motivate me not to eat, not to consume, not to gain, not to fail.
To run fast, often by a specified amount.
- Don't rely on that clock: it gains.
- "Don't hurry immediately after your breakfast, Geoffrey. You know that clock gains five minutes every day and it's only—" called out Miss Tilehurst, but Geoffrey was technically out of earshot then […]
The act of gaining
The act of gaining; acquisition.
- People are more willing to take a risk to avoid a loss than to make a gain.
- All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles: And more regarding gaine than victorie:
- the lust of gain, in the spirit of Cain
The thing or things gained.
- Everyone shall share in the gains.
The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
- There follows the high and low-frequency replay equalization, which normally involves two adjustments with a further control allowing the replay gain to be set.
Against.
Straight, direct
Straight, direct; near; short.
- the gainest way
- [...] many times his horse and he plunged over the head in deep mires, for he knew not the way, but took the gainest way in that woodness, that many times he was like to perish.
Suitable
Suitable; convenient; ready.
Easy
Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
Honest
Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
Straightly
Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
Suitably
Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
Tolerably
Tolerably; fairly.
- gain quiet
A square or bevelled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which…
A square or bevelled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.
A surname.
The neighborhood
Derived
gainable, gainer, gain ground, gain line, gain momentum, gain on, gain one's spurs, gain over, gain steam, gain the wind, gain time, gain traction, gain upon, gain weight, outgain, overgain, undergain, ungained, what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts, what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts, autogain, brain-gain, brain gain, capital gain, gain-ground, gainless, gain-of-function, gain of function, gain-of-function research, gainsharing, gain-sharing, gainside, gain twist, gainwise, gainword, gainworthy, line to gain, loss and gain are brothers twain, maingain, no gain without pain · +13 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at gain. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at gain. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at gain
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA