What does gain mean?

Definitions for gain
geɪngain

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word gain.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. addition, increase, gainnoun

    a quantity that is added

    "there was an addition to property taxes this year"; "they recorded the cattle's gain in weight over a period of weeks"

  2. profit, gainnoun

    the advantageous quality of being beneficial

  3. amplification, gainnoun

    the amount of increase in signal power or voltage or current expressed as the ratio of output to input

  4. gainverb

    the amount by which the revenue of a business exceeds its cost of operating

  5. derive, gainverb

    obtain

    "derive pleasure from one's garden"

  6. acquire, win, gainverb

    win something through one's efforts

    "I acquired a passing knowledge of Chinese"; "Gain an understanding of international finance"

  7. profit, gain, benefitverb

    derive a benefit from

    "She profited from his vast experience"

  8. reach, make, attain, hit, arrive at, gainverb

    reach a destination, either real or abstract

    "We hit Detroit by noon"; "The water reached the doorstep"; "We barely made it to the finish line"; "I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts"

  9. gain, advance, win, pull ahead, make headway, get ahead, gain groundverb

    obtain advantages, such as points, etc.

    "The home team was gaining ground"; "After defeating the Knicks, the Blazers pulled ahead of the Lakers in the battle for the number-one playoff berth in the Western Conference"

  10. advance, gainverb

    rise in rate or price

    "The stock market gained 24 points today"

  11. gain, gatherverb

    increase or develop

    "the peace movement gained momentum"; "the car gathers speed"

  12. gain, take in, clear, make, earn, realize, realise, pull in, bring inverb

    earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages

    "How much do you make a month in your new job?"; "She earns a lot in her new job"; "this merger brought in lots of money"; "He clears $5,000 each month"

  13. gain, put onverb

    increase (one's body weight)

    "She gained 20 pounds when she stopped exercising"

Wiktionary

  1. gainnoun

    The act of gaining.

  2. gainnoun

    What one gains, as a return on investment or dividend.

    No pain, no gain.

  3. gain

    The factor by which a signal is multiplied.

  4. gainverb

    To acquire possession of what one did not have before.

    Looks like you've gained a new friend.

  5. gainverb

    To increase.

  6. gain

    To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.

  7. gain

    To reach.

  8. gain

    To put on weight.

    I've been gaining (weight).

  9. gain

    To run fast.

  10. Etymology: From gayn, gein, geyn, from gegn, from gegn (whence gagna); see below at gain. Adverb from gayne, from the adjective.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Gainadjective

    An old word now out of use. Handy; ready; dexterous.

  2. GAINnoun

    Etymology: gain, French.

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

    Besides the purpose it were now, to teach how victory should be used, or the gains thereof communicated to the general content. Walter Raleigh, Essays.

    It is in praise of men as in gettings and gains; for light gains make heavy purses; for light gains come thick, whereas great come but now and then. Francis Bacon, Essay 53.

    This must be made by some governor upon his own private account, who has a great stock that he is content to turn that way, and is invited by the gains. William Temple.

    That sir, which serves for gain,
    And follows but for form,
    Will pack, when it begins to rain,
    And leave thee in the storm. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? 2 Cor. xii. 17.

  3. To Gainverb

    Etymology: gagner, French.

    Thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortions. Ezek. xxii. 12.

    If you have two vessels to fill, and you empty one to fill the other, you gain nothing by that. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.

    If such a tradition were endeavoured to be set on foot, it is not easy to imagine how it should at first gain entertainment; but much more difficult to conceive how ever it should come to be universally propagated. John Tillotson, Sermons.

    I know that ye would gain the time, because ye see the king is gone from me. Dan. ii. 8.

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

    They who were sent to the other pass, after a short resistance, gained it. Edward Hyde, b. viii.

    Fat fees from the defended Umbrian draws,
    And only gains the wealthy client’s cause. John Dryden, Pers. Sat.

    O love! for Sylvia let me gain the prize,
    And make my tongue victorious as her eyes. Alexander Pope, Spring.

    Come, with presents, laden from the port,
    To gratify the queen and gain the court. John Dryden, Virg. Æn.

    If Pyrrhus must be wrought to pity,
    No woman does it better than yourself:
    If you gain him, I shall comply of course. Ambrose Philips.

    The West glimmers with some streaks of day:
    Now spurs the lated traveller apace,
    To gain the timely inn. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    Death was the post, which I almost did gain:
    Shall I once more be tost into the main? Edmund Waller.

    We came to the roots of the mountain, and had a very troublesome march to gain the top of it. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

    Thus sav’d from death, they gain the Phestan shores,
    With shatter’d vessels and disabled oars. Alexander Pope, Odyssey, b. iii.

    The court of Hanover should have endeavoured to gain over those who were represented as their enemies. Jonathan Swift.

  4. To Gainverb

    When watchful herons leave their wat’ry stand,
    And mounting upward with erected flight,
    Gain on the skies, and soar above the sight. John Dryden, Virg. Geo.

    On the land while here the ocean gains,
    In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains. Alexander Pope, on Criticism.

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

    My good behaviour had gained so far on the emperor, that I began to conceive hopes of liberty. Gulliver’s Travels.

  5. To Gainverb

    To grow rich; to have advantage; to be advanced in interest or happiness.

ChatGPT

  1. gain

    In general terms, 'gain' refers to an increase, addition, development or improvement in something. This could refer to financial gain i.e. an increase in wealth or assets, or it could refer to personal gain i.e. an improvement in health or skills. In electronics, 'gain' is the measure of the ability of a circuit (amplifier, antenna, etc.) to increase the power or amplitude of a signal. The context typically determines the specific kind of gain being referred to.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Gainnoun

    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

  2. Gainadjective

    convenient; suitable; direct; near; handy; dexterous; easy; profitable; cheap; respectable

  3. Gainverb

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

  4. Gainverb

    the obtaining or amassing of profit or valuable possessions; acquisition; accumulation

  5. Gainnoun

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

  6. Gainnoun

    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

  7. Gainnoun

    to draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate

  8. Gainnoun

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

  9. Gainnoun

    to get, incur, or receive, as loss, harm, or damage

  10. Gainverb

    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

  11. Etymology: [OE. gein, gain, good, near, quick; cf. Icel. gegn ready, serviceable, and gegn, adv., against, opposite. Cf. Again.]

Wikidata

  1. Gain

    In electronics, gain is a measure of the ability of a circuit to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output, by adding energy to the signal converted from some power supply. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal output of a system to the signal input of the same system. It may also be defined on a logarithmic scale, in terms of the decimal logarithm of the same ratio. A gain greater than one, that is, amplification, is the defining property of an active component or circuit, while a passive circuit will have a gain of less than one. Thus, the term gain on its own is ambiguous. For example, "a gain of five" may imply that either the voltage, current or the power is increased by a factor of five, although most often this will mean a voltage gain of five for audio and general purpose amplifiers, especially operational amplifiers, but a power gain for radio frequency amplifiers. Furthermore, the term gain is also applied in systems such as sensors where the input and output have different units; in such cases the gain units must be specified, as in "5 microvolts per photon" for the responsivity of a photosensor. The "gain" of a bipolar transistor normally refers to forward current transfer ratio, either hFE, or sometimes hfe.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Gain

    gān, v.t. to obtain by effort: to earn: to be successful in: to draw to one's own party, bribe: to reach: to make advance: (N. T.) to escape.—n. that which is gained: profit.—adj. Gain′able.—n. Gain′er.—adj. Gain′ful.—adv. Gain′fully.—n. Gain′fulness.—n.pl. Gain′ings.—adj. Gain′less.—n. Gain′lessness.—Gain ground (see Ground); Gain upon, to overtake by degrees. [O. Fr. gain, gaain, gaigner, gaaignier, from Teut., as in weidenen, to graze, to seek forage, weida, pasture.]

  2. Gain

    gān, adj. (prov.) near, straight. [Ice. gegn.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. gain

    To conquer; to get the better; as, we gained the day, etc. To gain ground, implies to take up the ground which a retiring enemy vacates.

Suggested Resources

  1. GAIN

    What does GAIN stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the GAIN acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. GAIN

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Gain is ranked #19703 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Gain surname appeared 1,367 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Gain.

    84.4% or 1,155 total occurrences were White.
    7.2% or 99 total occurrences were Black.
    3% or 42 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2.8% or 39 total occurrences were Asian.
    1.9% or 27 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.3% or 5 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'gain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2724

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'gain' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3769

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'gain' in Nouns Frequency: #1219

  4. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'gain' in Verbs Frequency: #250

Anagrams for gain »

  1. ngai

  2. naig

  3. inga

How to pronounce gain?

How to say gain in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of gain in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of gain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of gain in a Sentence

  1. Joakim Dal:

    I expect the company to continue to invest heavily to gain customers and to improve its product to attract new customers and keep current users.

  2. Barry Popkin:

    Any weight loss is a positive at nearly any weight level, just marginal weight gain can impact us health-wise.

  3. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland:

    The Justice Department remains committed to using every available federal tool — including criminal, civil, and administrative actions — to combat and prevent COVID-19 related fraud, we will continue to hold accountable those who seek to exploit the pandemic for personal gain, to protect vulnerable populations and to safeguard the integrity of taxpayer-funded programs.

  4. John Kerry:

    Terror groups like the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e Taiba, and other groups, continue to pose a threat to Pakistan, to its neighbors, and to the United States, and all of us have a responsibility to ensure that these groups do not gain a foothold but rather are pushed back into the recesses of (Pakistan’s) memory. ... Make no mistake. The task is a difficult one and it is not done.

  5. Luis Almagro:

    In Venezuela, the purpose of politics has been lost, they have forgotten to defend the general and collective long-term good, over short-term individual gain ... Immoral politics loses this vision because its only interest is staying in power.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

gain#1#2491#10000

Translations for gain

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • ziskCzech
  • Gewinn, gewinnenGerman
  • κερδίζω, κέρδος, αποκτώGreek
  • ganancia, ganarSpanish
  • سود, بهرهPersian
  • saavuttaa, hyöty, päästä päämäärään, vahvistus, voittaminen, voittoFinnish
  • gagner, gainFrench
  • prothaidScottish Gaelic
  • קיבלHebrew
  • nyereség, haszonHungarian
  • վաստակ, ստանալ, շահիլArmenian
  • ganiarInterlingua
  • lucro, acquisire, mettere su peso, profitto, guadagnare, aumentare, guadagnoItalian
  • 増幅率, 進歩, 利得, 進展Japanese
  • 얻다Korean
  • lucror, teneoLatin
  • bekomen, winst, verkrijgen, aankomen, winnenDutch
  • utbytte, forsterkningNorwegian
  • ganharPortuguese
  • усиление, получе́ние, получи́ть, приобрести́, приобрете́ние, усиле́ние, приобрета́ть, при́быль, получа́тьRussian
  • vinst, förstärkningSwedish
  • ஆதாயம்Tamil
  • పొందుTelugu
  • вигратиUkrainian
  • حاصل کرناUrdu

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"gain." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/gain>.

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    an outward semblance that misrepresents the true nature of something
    A fancy
    B disguise
    C aspiration
    D humility

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