Definitions for acquire
əˈkwaɪərac·quire

Princeton's WordNet(3.11 / 10 votes)Rate this definition:

1. get, acquireverb

   come into the possession of something concrete or abstract

   "She got a lot of paintings from her uncle"; "They acquired a new pet"; "Get your results the next day"; "Get permission to take a few days off from work"

2. assume, acquire, adopt, take on, takeverb

   take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

   "His voice took on a sad tone"; "The story took a new turn"; "he adopted an air of superiority"; "She assumed strange manners"; "The gods assume human or animal form in these fables"

3. grow, develop, produce, get, acquireverb

   come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)

   "He grew a beard"; "The patient developed abdominal pains"; "I got funny spots all over my body"; "Well-developed breasts"

4. acquireverb

   locate (a moving entity) by means of a tracking system such as radar

5. acquire, win, gainverb

   win something through one's efforts

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

6. learn, larn, acquireverb

   gain knowledge or skills

   "She learned dancing from her sister"; "I learned Sanskrit"; "Children acquire language at an amazing rate"

7. develop, acquire, evolveverb

   gain through experience

   "I acquired a strong aversion to television"; "Children must develop a sense of right and wrong"; "Dave developed leadership qualities in his new position"; "develop a passion for painting"

Wiktionary(4.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. acquireverb

   To get.

2. acquireverb

   To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own, as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits.

3. Etymology: From aqueren, from aquerre, from adquaerere; ad + quaero. See quest.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. To ACQUIREverb

   To gain by one’s own labour or power; to obtain what is not received from nature, or transmitted by inheritance.

   Etymology: acquerir, Fr. acquiro, Lat.

   I’ve done enough. A lower place not well,
   May make too great an act: for learn this, Silius,
   Better to leave undone, than by our deed
   Acquire too high a fame, while he, we serve, ’s away. William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra.

Webster Dictionary(3.33 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Acquireverb

   to gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own; as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Acquire

   Acquire is a board game designed by Sid Sackson. The game was originally published in 1962 by 3M as a part of their bookshelf games series. In most versions, the theme of the game is investing in hotel chains. In the 1990s Hasbro edition, the hotel chains were replaced by generic corporations, though the actual gameplay was unchanged. The game is currently published by Hasbro under the Avalon Hill brand, and the companies are once again hotel chains. The object of the game is to earn the most money by developing and merging hotel chains. When a chain in which a player owns stock is acquired by a larger chain, players earn money based on the size of the acquired chain. At the end of the game, all players liquidate their stock in order to determine which player has the most money.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Acquire

   ak-kwīr′, v.t. to gain: to attain to.—n. Acquirabil′ity.—adj. Acquir′able, that may be acquired.—ns. Acquire′ment, something learned or got by effort, rather than a gift of nature; Acquisi′tion, the act of acquiring: that which is acquired.—adj. Acquis′itive, desirous to acquire.—n. Acquis′itiveness, propensity to acquire—one of the phrenologists' so-called faculties, with its special organ. [O. Fr. aquerre—L. acquirĕre, -quisitum—ad, to, and quærĕre, to seek.]

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Locate

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'acquire' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4430

2. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'acquire' in Verbs Frequency: #307

How to pronounce acquire?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say acquire in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of acquire in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of acquire in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of acquire in a Sentence

1. Rosamund Lewis:

   At the moment, we are not concerned about a global pandemic, we are concerned that individuals may acquire this infection through high-risk exposure if they don’t have the information they need to protect themselves.

2. William Osler:

   There is no more difficult art to acquire than the art of observation, and for some men it is quite as difficult to record an observation in brief and plain language.

3. Marilyn vos Savant:

   To acquire knowledge, one must study but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

4. Patrick Thomas:

   Maybe there's a piece of technology we want to acquire to add on to that business. We'd love it to be bigger.

5. Harry Kirsch:

   I don't think there is a domino effect if some others were to merge or acquire large scale, that our hands would be forced in any way.

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