# gain

Pronunciation: say "GAYN" /ɡeɪn/

## Verb

1. To acquire possession of something.
   - Simple: To get something and make it yours.
   - _Through the merger, the company will gain several valuable patents._
   - _The settlers gained control of the river crossing._
3. To get more of something, such as speed, height or weight; (of a person) to put on weight.
   - Simple: To get more of something, such as speed, height or body weight.
   - _The runners gain momentum as the race continues._
   - _The aircraft gained altitude steadily after the climb began._
4. To receive advantage or profit; to grow richer, healthier, or happier; to make progress.
   - Simple: To benefit or make progress, such as by getting richer, healthier, or happier.
   - _Everyone stands to gain from the new trade deal._
   - _The patient gained in strength over the following weeks._
9. To draw nearer to someone ahead, becoming more likely to catch or overtake them.
   - Simple: To get closer to someone you are chasing.
   - _With every stride, the second runner began to gain._
   - _Once the traffic thinned out, the police car began to gain on the stolen van._
6. Of a price, currency, or share: to increase in value, often by a given amount or relative to another currency.
   - Simple: Of a price, a share, or a kind of money: to go up in value.
   - _Shares of the airline gained 4 percent on Tuesday after strong holiday bookings._
   - _Traders expect the yen to gain against the dollar if interest rates rise in Japan._
7. To persuade a person or group to support you or to join your side or cause.
   - Simple: To win someone over to your side.
   - _The candidate worked hard to gain undecided voters._
   - _Over the following decades, the movement gained converts in nearly every city along the coast._
12. To reach or arrive at a place, especially after effort.
   - Simple: To reach a place, especially after making an effort to get there.
   - _The ship struggled to gain the harbor before the storm._
   - _Exhausted, the hikers gained the ridge by nightfall._

## Noun

2. Growth in the quantity, size, weight, or value of something.
   - Simple: A rise in how much, how big, how heavy, or how valuable something is.
   - _The company reported a 12 percent gain in profits over the previous year._
   - _With the extra light, the seedlings showed steady gains in height every week._
5. What is acquired or won; the thing or things obtained.
   - Simple: The things you get or win.
   - _The financial gain from the investment exceeded everyone's hopes._
   - _Whatever gain they made was reinvested in the farm._
8. The factor by which a signal's strength is multiplied.
   - Simple: How much a device makes a signal stronger or weaker.
   - _The amplifier's gain determines how much the input signal is boosted._
   - _Engineers set the gain carefully to avoid distortion._
11. The act of getting or winning something, rather than the thing that is obtained.
   - Simple: The act of getting or winning something.
   - _Critics accused the company of putting the pursuit of gain ahead of its workers' safety._
   - _The steady gain of knowledge rewards the patient student._

## Adjective

13. Suitable and convenient; ready to hand.
   - Simple: Suitable, handy, or ready for use.
14. Straight and direct; near or short in distance.
   - Simple: Straight and direct, or close and short.

## Adverb

15. By the most direct route or means, without delay; straight and fast.
   - Simple: Straight and quickly, by the nearest way.

## Verb

10. To win or be victorious in a contest; to obtain through competition. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To win something in a contest or fight.
   - _The general expected to gain the battle by morning._
   - _She gained the championship after years of effort._

## Preposition

16. Against; in contact with, or in opposition to, something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Against, or pressed up close to something.

## Other meanings

- (verb) Of a clock or watch: to run fast, so that it shows a later time than the correct one.
- (noun) A square or beveled notch cut into a girder, joist, or other supporting timber to receive the end of a floor beam.
- (adjective) Easy or tolerable to manage; also, handy and skillful with the hands.
- (adjective) Honest and respectable; also moderate in amount or low in price.
- (adverb) In a suitable, convenient, skillful, or moderate manner.
- (adverb) Tolerably or fairly; to a fair or moderate degree.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–12** — This word comes from Middle English gayn ("profit, advantage"), from Old Norse gagn ("benefit, advantage, use"), tracing back to Proto-Germanic roots meaning "return." The Middle English word was later reinforced by Middle French gain ("gain, profit"), from Old French gaaignier ("to till, earn, win"), ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to pasture, graze, or hunt for food."
**Meaning 16** — This comes from dialectal English gen, gin, a shortened form of again, agen ("against"); it also goes back to Middle English gain ("against") and Old English gēan, geġn ("against").
**Meanings 13–15** — Old Norse gegn ("straight, direct, short, ready, serviceable, kindly") gave Middle English gayn ("straight, direct, short, fit, good"), and English has it from there. The adverb grew out of that Middle English adjective.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/gain (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).