gain

verb

1. (transitive)To acquire possession of.

   “Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.”

   “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

   “Another answers, ‘Let him be, ⁠He loves to make parade of pain, ⁠That with his piping he may gain The praise that comes to constancy.’”

2. (intransitive)To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.

   “The sick man gains daily.”

   “Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.”

3. (dated, transitive)To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.

   “to gain a battle; to gain a case at law”

4. (transitive)To increase.

   “Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.”

5. (intransitive, often, with-on)To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.

   “to gain ground”

   “I’m gaining (on you).”

6. (transitive)To reach.

   “to gain the top of a mountain”

   “Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.”

7. 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.”

   “to gratify the queen, and gain the court”

8. (intransitive)To put on weight.

   “I’ve been gaining.”

   “Thinspo, bonespo, meanspo, sweetspo, anything that could motivate me not to eat, not to consume, not to gain, not to fail.”

9. (ambitransitive, dated)To run fast, often by a specified amount.

   “Don't rely on that clock: it gains.”

   “"Don't hurry immediately after your breakfast, Geoffrey. You know that clock gains five minutes every day and it's only—" called out Miss Tilehurst, but Geoffrey was technically out of earshot then […]”

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of gaining; acquisition.

   “People are more willing to take a risk to avoid a loss than to make a gain.”

   “All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles: And more regarding gaine than victorie:”

   “the lust of gain, in the spirit of Cain”

   “When power is sought primarily for private gain, the social fabric decays and unravels.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The thing or things gained.

   “Everyone shall share in the gains.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The factor by which a signal is multiplied.

   “There follows the high and low-frequency replay equalization, which normally involves two adjustments with a further control allowing the replay gain to be set.”

4. A square or bevelled 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.

prep

1. (obsolete)Against.

adj

1. (dialectal, obsolete)Straight, direct; near; short.

   “the gainest way”

   “[...] many times his horse and he plunged over the head in deep mires, for he knew not the way, but took the gainest way in that woodness, that many times he was like to perish.”

2. (dialectal, obsolete)Suitable; convenient; ready.
3. (dialectal)Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
4. (dialectal)Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.

adv

1. (dialectal, obsolete)Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
2. (dialectal)Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
3. (dialectal)Tolerably; fairly.

   “gain quiet”

name

1. A surname.