uage. A person is sometimes said to _gain_ and
often to _acquire_ what has not been an object of direct endeavor; in
the pursuits of trade, he incidentally _gains_ some knowledge of foreign
countries; he _acquires_ by association with others a correct or
incorrect accent; he _acquires_ a bronzed complexion by exposure to a
tropical sun; in such use, what he _gains_ is viewed as desirable, what
he _acquires_ as slowly and gradually resulting. A person _earns_ what
he gives an equivalent of labor for, tho he may not _get_ it. On the
other hand, he may _get_ what he has not _earned_; the temptation to
all dishonesty is the desire to _get_ a living or a fortune without
_earning_ it. When one _gets_ the object of his desire, he is said to
_obtain_ it, whether he has _gained_ or _earned_ it or not. _Win_
denotes contest, with a suggestion of chance or hazard; in popular
language, a person is often said to _win_ a lawsuit, or to _win_ in a
suit at law, but in legal phrase he is said to _gain_ his suit, case, or
cause. In _receiving_, one is strictly passive; he may _get_ an estate
by his own exertions or by inheritance; in the latter case he is said to
_receive_ it. One _obtains_ a thing commonly by some direct effort of
his own; he _procures_ it commonly by the intervention of some one else;
he _procures_ a dinner or an interview; he _secures_ what has seemed
uncertain or elusive, when he _gets_ it firmly into his possession or
under his control. Compare synonyms for ATTAIN; MAKE; REACH.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ABANDON.

* * * * *

GIFT.

Synonyms:

benefaction, boon, bribe, grant, largess,
bequest, bounty, donation, gratuity, present.

A _gift_ is in the popular, and also in the legal sense that which is
voluntarily bestowed without expectation of return or compensation.
_Gift_ is now almost always used in the good sense, _bribe_ always in
the evil sense to signify payment for a dishonorable service under the
semblance of a _gift_. In Scriptural language _gift_ is often used for
_bribe_. "The king by judgment establisheth the land; but he that
receiveth _gifts_ overthroweth it." _Prov._ xxix, 4. A _benefaction_ is
a charitable _gift_, generally of large amount, and viewed as of
enduring value, as an endowment for a college. A _donation_ is
something, perhaps of great, never of trivial value, given usually on
some public ground, as to a cause or to a perso