I. ˈgathə(r), ˈgeth- sometimes ˈgȧth- verb
( gathered ; gathered ; gathering -th(ə)riŋ ; gathers )
Etymology: Middle English gaderen, from Old English gadrian, gaderian; akin to Old Frisian gaderia to gather, Middle Low German gadderen to gather, Middle High German gatern to unite, Old Frisian gadia — more at good
transitive verb
1.
a. : to bring together into a crowd, group, body, or mass : concentrate , collect
the balloon start had gathered a little crowd of people — H.G.Wells
reformers gathering their forces against corrupt city administrations — American Guide Series: New York City
gather a supply of firewood
gathering the frightened children about her
b.
(1) : to draw up or together : accumulate
(2) : to gain gradually with steady increase or acceleration
art will gather social purpose — J.T.Farrell
a movement gathering force
the car gathered speed
c. : to collect (melted glass) on the end of a tube for samples or for blowing
2.
a. : pick , pluck , harvest
gathered a bunch of flowers
gathering walnuts
b. : to cull, take, pick up, receive, or appropriate by or as if by picking or harvesting
many souvenirs … gathered from all parts of the world — American Guide Series: Maine
the vigilantes gathered up Plummer and his gang and hanged them — Seth Agnew
gather meaning not from reading the Constitution but from reading life — Felix Frankfurter
c. : to accumulate and place in order or readiness for being used or carried — often used with up
he gathered up his tools
d. : to assemble in sequence (the signatures and inserts of a volume) for binding
e.
(1) chiefly Britain : to scoop up (as a rolling ball) neatly off the ground
(2) : to catch (a baseball) on the fly — usually used with in
the shortstop easily gathered in the soft liner
3. : to attract or serve as a center of attraction for : cause or facilitate a bringing together or accumulating of
the past … gathers round it all the inscrutable mystery of life and death — G.M.Trevelyan
Puritanism … gathered about it … all the forces of unrest — V.L.Parrington
an age devoted to ornate decor that gathered dust and moths
4. : to effect the collection of (as tax, tribute, dues, contributions)
gather tax moneys for the king
5.
a. : to summon up : muster together : accumulate : bring together and coordinate
his poor, shattered soul had gathered to itself just then a great courage — Liam O'Flaherty
we must … get out of the tumult of the market place to gather our thoughts — M.R.Cohen
reporters gathering the news of the campaign
b. : to prepare (as oneself) by mustering strength and force
the victim had been gathering himself to run across the court — T.B.Costain
6.
a. : to bring or draw together the parts of : collect and compress by or as if by grasping and holding
gathered her long full skirt in each hand and sprang across the little stream
b. : to draw (as a covering) over, about, or close to something
seizing his hat and gathering his cloak about him
gathered the bedclothes up to his neck
c. : to pull (fabric) along one or two lines of stitching so as to draw into puckers : plait
gather the neckline and stitch on the binding
d.
(1) : to haul in or take up (as slack of a rope)
(2) : to begin or increase movement in (a way or direction specified)
the ship gathered headway
e. : to cause (opposite walls of masonry) to approach or come together (as in the abrupt narrowing of the upper part of a fireplace to meet the flue)
7. : to conclude on reflection : draw as an inference : deduce , infer : presume to be the case
I gather that the meeting was not a success
8. : collect 5a
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to come together in a body, group, crowd, cluster, heap, or mass
a crowd quickly gathered and shouted for a speech — American Guide Series: Maryland
the swallows … are gathering to fly farther away — Padraic Colum
the way the wrinkles gathered about his merry gray eyes — Ellen Glasgow
b. : to accumulate, cluster, or form around a focus of attraction
a romance … gathers round the wedge-shaped or cuneiform characters — Edward Clodd
the unpopularity that gathered about the name of Mather — V.L.Parrington
2.
a. : to enlarge in coming to a head : swell and fill with pus : head
the boil is gathering
b. : to become concentrated or intense : grow , increase
where the cold gathered more thickly — E.H.Collis
a time when the gathering dangers were only too apparent — Sir Winston Churchill
3. : to become drawn or compressed together often in folds or creases
a coat that gathers over the shoulders
4. of a ship : to make progress : approach
the boat continued to gather toward the southeast
swiftly gathering on the ship ahead
Synonyms:
collect , assemble , congregate : gather , a general term, indicates the fact of bringing or coming together and lacks much especial connotation
it was customary for merchants to gather outside to discuss business affairs — American Guide Series: Rhode Island
It may suggest a picking, culling, or harvesting
a trading post to collect goods already gathered by the native population — R.A.Billington
collect is often interchangeable with gather but may imply greater purposiveness and more careful selectivity
Columbus was forced to collect the natives one night and threaten to darken the moon — Stringfellow Barr
the mass of movable wealth collected in the shops and warehouses of London alone — T.B.Macaulay
Used in reference to persons coming together, assemble may stress a definite aim or purpose and may suggest greater unity or organization in the group formed; used in reference to things brought together, it suggests a logical ordering or uniting
Flandrau … assembled a force of volunteers at St. Peter and hastened to the relief of the village — American Guide Series: Minnesota
immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election — U.S. Constitution
assembling and interpreting statistics on the nation's war programs — Current Biography
congregate may apply to a gregarious flocking together of similar types
the drivers congregated in saloons around the square — Green Peyton
the older people sat rather stiffly in the corners, the young men congregated uneasily in impermanent groups — Irwin Shaw
Synonym: see in addition infer , reap .
II. noun
( -s )
1. : something that is gathered
the final gather of the harvest
smoothing out the gathers of thought between her brows
as
a. : a puckering in cloth made by gathering — usually used in plural
adjust the gathers evenly and sew on the waistband
b. : a mass of molten glass collected on a gathering iron for use in glassblowing
c. : a lightly collected stance of a horse
2. : an act or instance of gathering
made a final gather of the trash before they left the picnic grounds
especially West : a roundup of cattle
3. : the soffit of masonry formed by gathering