gain
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To have or receive advantage or profit.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gaynIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡeɪn
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
Increase (one's body weight)
“She gained 20 pounds when she stopped exercising.”
transitive
To increase.
transitive
To acquire possession of.
intransitiveoften with on
To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.
Reach a destination, either real or abstract
noun
The act of gaining; acquisition.
The thing or things gained.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
Used this way, gain is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- 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 gain
- “She gained 20 pounds when she stopped exercising.”verb
- “The stock market gained 24 points today.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A person who gains weight.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property.
Obtain advantages, such as points, etc.
Gain or regain energy.
The amount of monetary gain.
A tax on capital gains.
A dive in which the diver throws the feet forward to complete a full backward somersault and enters the water feet first and facing away from the diving board.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.