From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
gather
n 1: sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling
tight a thread in a line of stitching [syn: gathering]
2: the act of gathering something [syn: gathering]
v 1: assemble or get together; "gather some stones"; "pull your
thoughts together" [syn: garner, collect, {pull
together}] [ant: spread]
2: collect in one place; "We assembled in the church basement";
"Let's gather in the dining room" [syn: meet,
assemble, forgather, foregather]
3: collect or gather; "Journals are accumulating in my office";
"The work keeps piling up" [syn: accumulate, cumulate,
conglomerate, pile up, amass]
4: conclude from evidence; "I gather you have not done your
homework"
5: draw fabric together and sew it tightly [syn: pucker,
tuck]
6: get people together; "assemble your colleagues"; "get
together all those who are interested in the project";
"gather the close family members" [syn: assemble, {get
together}]
7: look for (food) in nature; "Our ancestors gathered nuts in
the Fall"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gather \Gath"er\ (g[a^][th]"[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Gathered; p. pr. & vb. n. Gathering.] [OE. gaderen, AS.
gaderian, gadrian, fr. gador, geador, together, fr. g[ae]d
fellowship; akin to E. good, D. gaderen to collect, G. gatte
husband, MHG. gate, also companion, Goth. gadiliggs a
sister's son. [root]29. See Good, and cf. Together.]
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1. To bring together; to collect, as a number of separate
things, into one place, or into one aggregate body; to
assemble; to muster; to congregate.
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And Belgium's capital had gathered them
Her beauty and her chivalry. --Byron.
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When he had gathered all the chief priests and
scribes of the people together. --Matt. ii. 4.
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2. To pick out and bring together from among what is of less
value; to collect, as a harvest; to harvest; to cull; to
pick off; to pluck.
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A rose just gathered from the stalk. --Dryden.
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Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
--Matt. vii.
16.
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Gather us from among the heathen. --Ps. cvi. 47.
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3. To accumulate by collecting and saving little by little;
to amass; to gain; to heap up.
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He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his
substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity
the poor. --Prov.
xxviii. 8.
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To pay the creditor . . . he must gather up money by
degrees. --Locke.
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4. To bring closely together the parts or particles of; to
contract; to compress; to bring together in folds or
plaits, as a garment; also, to draw together, as a piece
of cloth by a thread; to pucker; to plait; as, to gather a
ruffle.
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Gathering his flowing robe, he seemed to stand
In act to speak, and graceful stretched his hand.
--Pope.
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5. To derive, or deduce, as an inference; to collect, as a
conclusion, from circumstances that suggest, or arguments
that prove; to infer; to conclude.
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Let me say no more!
Gather the sequel by that went before. --Shak.
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6. To gain; to win. [Obs.]
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He gathers ground upon her in the chase. --Dryden.
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7. (Arch.) To bring together, or nearer together, in masonry,
as where the width of a fireplace is rapidly diminished to
the width of the flue, or the like.
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8. (Naut.) To haul in; to take up; as, to gather the slack of
a rope.
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To be gathered to one's people or {To be gathered to one's
fathers} to die. --Gen. xxv. 8.
To gather breath, to recover normal breathing after being
out of breath; to get one's breath; to rest. --Spenser.
To gather one's self together, to collect and dispose one's
powers for a great effort, as a beast crouches preparatory
to a leap.
To gather way (Naut.), to begin to move; to move with
increasing speed.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gather \Gath"er\, v. i.
1. To come together; to collect; to unite; to become
assembled; to congregate.
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When small humors gather to a gout. --Pope.
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Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes.
--Tennyson.
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2. To grow larger by accretion; to increase.
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Their snowball did not gather as it went. --Bacon.
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3. To concentrate; to come to a head, as a sore, and generate
pus; as, a boil has gathered.
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4. To collect or bring things together.
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Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and
gather where I have not strewed. --Matt. xxv.
26.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gather \Gath"er\, n.
1. A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through
it; a pucker.
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2. (Carriage Making) The inclination forward of the axle
journals to keep the wheels from working outward.
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3. (Arch.) The soffit or under surface of the masonry
required in gathering. See Gather, v. t., 7.
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