gather
/ˈɡæðɚ/ verb A2- To collect normally separate things. · I've been gathering ideas from the people I work with.· She bent down to gather the reluctant cat from beneath the chair.
- Especially, to harvest food. · We went to gather some blackberries from the nearby lane.
- To accumulate over time, to amass little by little. · Over the years he'd gathered a considerable collection of mugs.
- To congregate, or assemble. · People gathered round as he began to tell his story.
- To grow gradually larger by accretion.
- To bring parts of a whole closer. · She gathered the shawl about her as she stepped into the cold.
- To add pleats or folds to a piece of cloth, normally to reduce its width. · A gown should be gathered around the top so that it will remain shaped.
- To bring stitches closer together. · Be careful not to stretch or gather your knitting.· If you want to emphasise the shape, it is possible to gather the waistline.
He/she/it gathers · Past gathered · Past participle gathered · -ing form gathering
Verb forms
- Base form
- gather
- He/she/it
- gathers
- Past
- gathered
- Past participle
- gathered
- -ing form
- gathering
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Toto whimpered a little, but none of the others was frightened, and they kept along the well-trodden path until they came to an opening in the wood, in which were gathered hundreds of beasts of every variety.
The bride blushed, while Fernand, restless and uneasy, seemed to start at every fresh sound, and from time to time wiped away the large drops of perspiration that gathered on his brow.
Through this we slipped, and then in the gathering gloom we followed Holmes until we had reached a shrubbery which lies nearly opposite to the main door and the drawbridge.
Other matches
Learn gather in real texts
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