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gather

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verb American English pronunciation: gather /ˈɡæðər/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theygather
he/she/itgathers
present participlegathering
past tensegathered
past participlegathered
 
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] if people gather, or if someone gathers them, they come together in one place to see or do something

    A crowd gathered outside the hotel.

    Football fans gathered around the TV in the corner of the bar.

    She gathered her children and ran for shelter.

    There were 60,000 fans gathered in the stadium.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather
  2. 2
    [transitive] to look for and find information or documents in different places

    Our report is based on information gathered from all parts of the country.

    The police have been gathering evidence against him.

    I need to gather together our tax documents.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather
    1. a.
      to search for and find similar things that you need or want

      They live by gathering shellfish and snails.

      Bees were gathering pollen from the wild flowers.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather
  3. 3
    [transitive] if something gathers force, speed, or strength, its force, speed, or strength increases

    The train pulled away slowly, then gathered speed.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather
  4. 4
    [transitive] to bring things closer together, for example to protect something or to make it neat

    Gathering her robe around her, Maria ran upstairs.

    She gathered her hair into a knot at the back of her head.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather
  5. 5
    [transitive] mainly spoken to believe that something is true, although no one has directly told you about it

    You’re new here, I gather.

    From what I can gather she’s madly in love with him.

    gather (that):

    I gather that the storm caused a power failure.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather
  7. 7
    [transitive] [usually passive] to make a lot of small folds in cloth

    The dress is gathered at the waist with elastic.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  gatherThesaurus entry for this meaning of gather

phrasal verbs

This is the American English definition of gather. View British English definition of gather.

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