Definitions for obtain
əbˈteɪnob·tain

Princeton's WordNet(2.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. obtain(verb)

   come into possession of

   "How did you obtain the visa?"

2. receive, get, find, obtain, incur(verb)

   receive a specified treatment (abstract)

   "These aspects of civilization do not find expression or receive an interpretation"; "His movie received a good review"; "I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions"

3. prevail, hold, obtain(verb)

   be valid, applicable, or true

   "This theory still holds"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. obtain(Verb)

   To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.

   Etymology: From obtenir, optiner et al., and obtenir, from obtinere, from ob- + tenere.

2. obtain(Verb)

   To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached.

   Etymology: From obtenir, optiner et al., and obtenir, from obtinere, from ob- + tenere.

3. obtain(Verb)

   To prevail, be victorious; to succeed.

   Etymology: From obtenir, optiner et al., and obtenir, from obtinere, from ob- + tenere.

4. obtain(Verb)

   To hold; to keep, possess or occupy.

   Etymology: From obtenir, optiner et al., and obtenir, from obtinere, from ob- + tenere.

5. obtain(Verb)

   To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.

   Etymology: From obtenir, optiner et al., and obtenir, from obtinere, from ob- + tenere.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Obtain(verb)

   to hold; to keep; to possess

2. Obtain(verb)

   to get hold of by effort; to gain possession of; to procure; to acquire, in any way

3. Obtain(verb)

   to become held; to gain or have a firm footing; to be recognized or established; to subsist; to become prevalent or general; to prevail; as, the custom obtains of going to the seashore in summer

4. Obtain(verb)

   to prevail; to succeed

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Obtain

   ob-tān′, v.t. to lay hold of: to hold: to procure by effort: to gain: to keep possession of.—v.i. to be established: to continue in use: to become customary or prevalent: to hold good: (rare) to succeed.—adj. Obtain′able, that may be obtained, procured, or acquired.—ns. Obtain′er; Obtain′ment; Obten′tion, procurement.—Obtain to (Bacon), to attain to. [Fr.,—L. obtinēre—ob, upon, tenēre, to hold.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. obtain

   To get hold of by effort; to gain possession of.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'obtain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2198

2. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'obtain' in Verbs Frequency: #175

How to pronounce obtain?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say obtain in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of obtain in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of obtain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of obtain in a Sentence

1. Ben Lee:

   It is extremely easy to obtain a casino license in Local NGO Mother Nature Cambodia, to get one, all you need is to prove you have a parcel of land and to pay an application fee to the Cambodian ministry of finance, which is in charge of overseeing casinos.

2. Andrew Ceresney:

   Investors rely on credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor's to play it straight when rating complex securities, but Standard & Poor's elevated its own financial interests above investors by loosening its rating criteria to obtain business and then obscuring these changes from investors.

3. Claude Arnold:

   In the case of Iraq, when we had troops on the ground, we were able to get intelligence on bad actors, now we rely on the Iraqi government to not only obtain the intelligence, but also to relay it to us.

4. Émile Durkheim:

   While the State becomes inflated and hypertrophied in order to obtain a firm enough grip upon individuals, but without succeeding, the latter, without mutual relationships, tumble over one another like so many liquid molecules, encountering no central energy to retain, fix and organize them.

5. Lindsey Graham:

   We had a major American political party hire a foreign national, Christopher Steele, to dig up dirt on an American presidential candidate, as if that was not bad enough, the foreign national compiled an unverified dossier that was then used by The FBI to obtain a warrant against an American citizen and surveil an American presidential campaign.

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