[gath.er] vb gath.ered ; gath.er.ing [ME gaderen, fr. OE gaderian; akin to Skt gadhya what one clings to--more at good] vt (bef. 12c) 1: to bring together: collect "tried to ~ a crowd" "~ed firewood"
2. a: pick, harvest "~ flowers" b: to pick up or accumulate as if by harvesting "~ing ideas for the project" c: to assemble (the signatures of a book) in sequence for binding
3: to serve as a center of attraction for
4: to effect the collection of (as tax)
5. a: to summon up "~ed his courage" b: to gain by gradual increase: accumulate "~ speed" c: to prepare (as oneself) by mustering strength
6: to reach a conclusion often intuitively from hints or through inferences "I ~ that you want to leave"
7. a: to pull (fabric) along a line of stitching so as to draw into puckers b: to draw about or close to something "~ing her cloak about her" c: to bring together the parts of d: to haul in ~ vi 1 a: to come together in a body b: to cluster around a focus of attraction
2. a: to swell and fill with pus b: grow, increase -- gath.er.er n syn gather, collect, assemble, congregate mean to come or bring together into a group, mass, or unit. gather is the most general term for bringing or coming together from a spread-out or scattered state "a crowd quickly gathered". collect often implies careful selection or orderly arrangement "collected books on gardening". assemble implies an ordered union or organization of persons or things often for a definite purpose "experts assembled for a conference on aeronautics". congregate implies a spontaneous flocking together into a crowd or huddle "congregating under shelter in a storm". syn see in addition infer
[2]gather n (1555) 1: something gathered: as a: a puckering in cloth made by gathering b: a mass of molten glass collected for use in glassblowing
2: an act or instance of gathering