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collect

verb · adjective · adverb

Simple meaning

To accumulate, particularly for a hobby or recreation.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhlehkt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

kəˈlɛkt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To accumulate (a number of similar or related objects), particularly for a hobby or recreation.

  2. Get or gather together

  3. transitive

    To gather together; amass.

  4. transitive

    To get; particularly, get from someone.

  5. Get or bring together

  6. Assemble or get together

adjective

  1. To be paid for by the recipient, as a telephone call or a shipment.

adverb

  1. With payment due from the recipient.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To accumulate (a number of similar or related objects), particularly for a hobby or recreation.

Used this way, collect is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use collect

  • “We collected over a million dollars in outstanding debts.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

collect datacollect informationcollect taxescollect money

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • collectedadjectiveInflected form

    Brought together in one place.

  • collectingnounInflected form

    The act of gathering something together.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • collectornounPerson or profession

    A person who collects things.

  • collectivenounDerived noun · specialist

    Members of a cooperative enterprise.

  • collectiblenounDerived noun · specialist

    Things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique).

  • collectablenounDerived noun · specialist

    Things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique).

  • collectivelyadverbDerived adverb

    In conjunction with.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • collect callnounCompound term

    A telephone call that the receiving party is asked to pay for.

  • coin collectingnounCompound term

    The collection and study of money (and coins in particular).

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to accumulate (a number of similar or related objects)

accumulategather upcongregategatherpick uppile upamass

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.