gain
verb
- increase
- acquire
noun
- ability of a circuit to increase the power or amplitude of a signal
- acquisition
- increase, rise
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɡeɪn/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English gayn, gein, geyn (“straight, direct, short, fit, good”), from Old Norse gegn (“straight, direct, short, ready, serviceable, kindly”), from gegn (“opposite, against”, adverb) (whence gagna (“to go against, meet, suit, be meet”)); see above. Adverb from Middle English gayn, gayne (“fitly, quickly”), from the adjective.
- 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; convenient; ready.
- Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
- Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
adv
Etymology: From Middle English gayn, gein, geyn (“straight, direct, short, fit, good”), from Old Norse gegn (“straight, direct, short, ready, serviceable, kindly”), from gegn (“opposite, against”, adverb) (whence gagna (“to go against, meet, suit, be meet”)); see above. Adverb from Middle English gayn, gayne (“fitly, quickly”), from the adjective.
- Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
- Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
- Tolerably; fairly.
“gain quiet”
name
Etymology: * As an English and Scottish surname of Norman origin, from the name Engaine, based on Old French engaigne (“ingenuity”), from Latin ingenium. Sometimes confused with Ingham. * As a French surname, from the verb gagner (“to obtain, gain”).
- A surname.
noun
Etymology: Compare Welsh gan (“a mortise”).
- 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.
prep
Etymology: From dialectal English gen, gin, short for again, agen (“against”); also Middle English gain, gayn, gein, ȝæn (“against”), from Old English gēan, geġn (“against”). More at against.
- Against.
verb
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”). 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.
- 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?”
- 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 be successful in; to obtain by competition.
“to gain a battle; to gain a case at law”
- 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 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 […]”