Definition of "gather" in English

verb

1. To collect normally separate things.

   • I've been gathering ideas from the people I work with.
   • She bent down to gather the reluctant cat from beneath the chair.

2. To bring parts of a whole closer.

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

3. To infer or conclude; to know from a different source.

   • From his silence, I gathered that things had not gone well.
   • I gather from Aunty May that you had a good day at the match.

4. (intransitive, medicine, of a boil or sore) To be filled with pus

   • Salt water can help boils to gather and then burst.

5. (glassblowing) To collect molten glass on the end of a tool.

6. To gain; to win.

noun

1. A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through it; a pucker.

2. The inclination forward of the axle journals to keep the wheels from working outward.

3. (masonry) The soffit or under surface of the masonry required in gathering. See gather.

4. (glassblowing) A blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe.

5. A gathering.