I. gath ‧ er 1 S3 W2 /ˈɡæðə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: gaderian ]
1 . COME TOGETHER [intransitive and transitive] to come together and form a group, or to make people do this:
A crowd gathered to watch the fight.
Thousands of people gathered outside the embassy.
gather around/round
Gather round, everyone, so that you can see the screen.
During the air raids, we gathered the children around us and sang songs.
gather together
Could the bride’s family all gather together for a photo?
be gathered
Dozens of photographers were gathered outside Jagger’s villa.
2 . KNOW/THINK [intransitive, transitive not in progressive] to believe that something is true because of what you have seen or heard SYN understand :
You two know each other, I gather.
gather (that)
I gather you’ve had some problems with our sales department.
from what I can gather/as far as I can gather (=this is what I believe to be true)
She’s his niece, from what I can gather.
3 . COLLECT [intransitive and transitive] to get things from different places and put them together in one place:
The researcher’s job is to gather information about people.
They had gathered 440,000 signatures to support their demand.
gather up/together
Debbie gathered up the clothes.
4 . gather speed/force/momentum etc to move faster, become stronger, get more support etc:
The cart gathered speed as it coasted down the hill.
The international relief effort appears to be gathering momentum.
5 . gather dust if something gathers dust, it is not being used:
books just gathering dust on the shelf
6 . CLOTH [transitive]
a) to pull material into small folds:
The skirt is gathered at the waist.
b) to pull material or a piece of clothing closer to you:
Moira gathered her skirts round her and climbed the steps.
7 . gather yourself/your strength/your thoughts to prepare yourself for something you are going to do, especially something difficult:
I took a few moments to gather my thoughts before going into the meeting.
8 . CLOUDS/DARKNESS [intransitive] literary to gradually become more cloudy or get darker:
Storm clouds were gathering so we hurried home.
the gathering darkness/dusk/shadows etc
the evening’s gathering shadows
9 . gather somebody to you/gather somebody up literary to take someone into your arms and hold them in order to protect them or show them love
II. gather 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a small fold produced by pulling cloth together