Gain

Gain , noun

[Compare Welsh gan a mortise.]

(Architecture) A square or beveled 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.

Gain , adjective

[Old English gein, gain, good, near, quick; compare Icelandic gegn ready, serviceable, and gegn, adv., against, opposite. Compare Again.]

Convenient; suitable; direct; near; handy; dexterous; easy; profitable; cheap; respectable. [Obsolete or Provincial English]

Gain (gān) , noun

[Old English gain, gein, gayhen, gain, advantage, Icelandic gagn; akin to Swedish gagn, Danish gavn, compare Gothic gageigan to gain. The word was prob. influenced by French gain gain, Old French gaain. Compare Gain, transitive verb]

That which is gained, obtained, or acquired, as increase, profit, advantage, or benefit; -- opposed to loss.

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. — Phil. iii. 7

Godliness with contentment is great gain. — 1 Tim. vi. 6

Every one shall share in the gains. — Shakespeare

The obtaining or amassing of profit or valuable possessions; acquisition; accumulation.

The lust of gain. — Tennyson

Gain (gānd) , transitive verb

[From gain, n. but. prob. influenced by French gagner to earn, gain, Old French gaaignier to cultivate, Old High German weidinōn, weidinen to pasture, hunt, from weida pasturage, German weide, akin to Icelandic veier hunting, Anglo-Saxon wāeu, compare Latin venari to hunt, English venison. See Gain, n., profit.]

To get, as profit or advantage; to obtain or acquire by effort or labor; as, to gain a good living.

What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? — Matt. xvi. 26

To gain dominion, or to keep it gained. — Milton

For fame with toil we gain, but lose with ease. — Pope

To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition; as, to gain a battle; to gain a case at law; to gain a prize.

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. — Matt. xviii. 15

To gratify the queen, and gained the court. — Dryden

To reach; to attain to; to arrive at; as, to gain the top of a mountain; to gain a good harbor.

Forded Usk and gained the wood. — Tennyson

To get, incur, or receive, as loss, harm, or damage. [Obsolete or Ironical]

Ye should... not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. — Acts xxvii. 21

Collocations (4)

Gained day , the calendar day gained in sailing eastward around the earth.

To gain ground , to make progress; to advance in any undertaking; to prevail; to acquire strength or extent.

To gain over , to draw to one's party or interest; to win over.

To gain the wind (Nautical) , to reach the windward side of another ship.

Gain , intransitive verb

To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress; as, the sick man gains daily.

Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion. — Ezek. xxii. 12

The English have not only gained upon the Venetians in the Levant, but have their cloth in Venice itself. — Addison

My good behavior had so far gained on the emperor, that I began to conceive hopes of liberty. — Swift