gather

About 11.44 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. verb To collect normally separate things.

   I've been gathering ideas from the people I work with.

2. verb Especially, to harvest food.

   We went to gather some blackberries from the nearby lane.

3. verb To accumulate over time, to amass little by little.

   Over the years he'd gathered a considerable collection of mugs.

4. verb To congregate, or assemble.

   People gathered round as he began to tell his story.

5. verb To grow gradually larger by accretion.
6. verb To bring parts of a whole closer.

   She gathered the shawl about her as she stepped into the cold.

7. verb 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.

8. verb To bring stitches closer together.

   Be careful not to stretch or gather your knitting.

Similar words

forgather congregate collect foregather assemble conglomerate pull together cumulate amass accumulate

Often followed by

the in information together up from and that a around

Word family

gathered gatherer gatherers gathering gathers