Library / English Dictionary

ACQUIRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)

Example:

Well-developed breasts

Synonyms:

acquire; develop; get; grow; produce

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "acquire" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

acquire; develop; evolve (gain through experience)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquire"):

feather; fledge (grow feathers)

regrow (grow anew or continue growth after an injury or interruption)

spring (develop suddenly)

sprout; stock (put forth and grow sprouts or shoots)

stool; tiller (grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers)

leaf (produce leaves, of plants)

pod (produce pods, of plants)

teethe (grow teeth; cut the baby teeth)

pupate (develop into a pupa)

get up; work up (develop)

cut (have grow through the gums)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

Example:

The gods assume human or animal form in these fables

Synonyms:

acquire; adopt; assume; take; take on

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "acquire" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquire"):

re-assume (take on again, as after a time lapse)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Gain through experience

Example:

develop a passion for painting

Synonyms:

acquire; develop; evolve

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "acquire" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

acquire; develop; get; grow; produce (come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes))

develop (elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme)

develop; explicate; formulate (elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses)

develop (generate gradually)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Gain knowledge or skills

Example:

Children acquire language at an amazing rate

Synonyms:

acquire; larn; learn

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquire"):

hit the books; study (learn by reading books)

absorb; assimilate; ingest; take in (take up mentally)

catch up (learn belatedly; find out about something after it happened)

relearn (learn something again, as after having forgotten or neglected it)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

acquisition (an ability that has been acquired by training)

acquisition (the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Come into the possession of something concrete or abstract

Example:

Get permission to take a few days off from work

Synonyms:

acquire; get

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Verb group:

find; get; incur; obtain; receive (receive a specified treatment (abstract))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquire"):

catch (get or regain something necessary, usually quickly or briefly)

recoup; recover; recuperate (regain or make up for)

reclaim; repossess (claim back)

find; regain (come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost)

acquire; gain; win (win something through one's efforts)

bring in; clear; earn; gain; make; pull in; realise; realize; take in (earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages)

earn; garner; win (acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions)

benefit; gain; profit (derive a benefit from)

partake; partake in; share (have, give, or receive a share of)

preempt (acquire for oneself before others can do so)

preempt (gain possession of by prior right or opportunity, especially so as to obtain the right to buy (land))

call for; collect; gather up; pick up (gather or collect)

inherit (obtain from someone after their death)

borrow (get temporarily)

pick up (get in addition, as an increase)

get (acquire as a result of some effort or action)

poll (get the votes of)

isolate (obtain in pure form)

get back; win back (recover something or somebody that appeared to be lost)

express; extract; press out (obtain from a substance, as by mechanical action)

capture; catch (capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping)

come by; come into (obtain, especially accidentally)

buy; purchase (obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction)

charter; engage; hire; lease; rent; take (engage for service under a term of contract)

have; receive (get something; come into possession of)

turn (get by buying and selling)

buy (acquire by trade or sacrifice or exchange)

find (obtain through effort or management)

glom (seize upon or latch onto something)

come upon; enter upon; luck into (take possession of)

come up; find; get hold; line up (get something or somebody for a specific purpose)

accept; have; take (receive willingly something given or offered)

obtain (come into possession of)

find; recover; regain; retrieve (get or find back; recover the use of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sentence example:

The children acquire the ball

Derivation:

acquirable (capable of being acquired)

acquirer (a credit card processing bank; merchants receive credit for credit card receipts less a processing fee)

acquirer (the financial institution that dispenses cash in automated teller machines and collects a fee from the bank that issued the credit card)

acquirer (a corporation gaining financial control over another corporation or financial institution through a payment in cash or an exchange of stock)

acquirer (a person who acquires something (usually permanently))

acquiring (the act of acquiring something)

acquisition (the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something)

acquisition (the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge)

acquisitive (eager to acquire and possess things especially material possessions or ideas)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Win something through one's efforts

Example:

win someone's confidence and friendship

Synonyms:

acquire; gain; win

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "acquire" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquire"):

cozen (cheat or trick)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Locate (a moving entity) by means of a tracking system such as radar

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "acquire" is one way to...):

locate; situate (determine or indicate the place, site, or limits of, as if by an instrument or by a survey)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

It may be inherited, usually in an autosomal dominant pattern, or acquired.

(Antithrombin III Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

It can be congenital or acquired.

(Atrial Septal Defect, NCI Thesaurus)

An acquired anemia caused by destruction of the red blood cells by autoantibodies.

(Autoimmune hemolytic anemia, NCI Thesaurus)

These substances subsequently produce inflammatory reactions in the skin of those who have acquired hypersensitivity to them as a result of prior exposure.

(Allergic Contact Dermatitis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Additionally, ALK mutations are associated with acquired resistance to small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

(ALK Inhibitor RO5424802, NCI Thesaurus)

A carcinoma that arises from the cervix in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

(AIDS-Related Cervical Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A malignant neoplasm that arises from the cervix in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

(AIDS-Related Malignant Cervical Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A non-Hodgkin lymphoma that arises from the cervix in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

(AIDS-Related Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma of the Cervix, NCI Thesaurus)

They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother's fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

A fetus that acquires the virus from its ZIKV-infected mother during pregnancy can develop microcephaly and other serious abnormalities.

(Zika virus selectively infects and kills glioblastoma cells in mice, National Institutes of Health)