gain
Forms
- present (v1)
- gain
- past (v2)
- gained
- past participle (v3)
- gained
- present participle
- gaining
- 3rd person singular
- gains
- Plural
- gains
Definitions
1.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?
2.To increase.
- Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
3.To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.
4.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.
1.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.
2.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.
3.The act of gaining; acquisition.
- People are more willing to take a risk to avoid a loss than to make a gain.
- When power is sought primarily for private gain, the social fabric decays and unravels.
4.The thing or things gained.
- Everyone shall share in the gains.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1357
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
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”).