gain 
Specifically (a) To obtain as material profit or advan- 
tage ; get possession of in return for etfort or outlay : as, 
to;/(tjji a fortune by manufactures or by speculation. 
\Vbat id a man profited, if he shall gain the whole w.rl.l. 
and lose his own soul 1 .Mat. xvi. -M. 
She fail'd and sadden'd knowing it ; and thus . . . 
Oain'd for her own a scanty sustenance. 
Tcimytan, Enoch Arden. 
(b) To obtain by competition ; acquire by success or supe- 
riority ; win from another or others : as, to gain a prize, 
a victory, or a battle ; to gain a cause in law. 
Som other Cicill hit sothly myght be, 
That was geynde to Orece, then the grete yle, 
That ferlv was fer be-jond fele rewmes I many realms]. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6223. 
Nicopolis was three miles and three quarters from Alex- 
andria, and received its name from the victory Augustus 
gain'd there over Anthony. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 11. 
Though nnequall'd to the goal he flies, 
A meaner than himself shall gain the prize. 
Camper, Truth, 1. 16. 
(c) To obtain the friendship or interest of ; win over ; con- 
ciliate. 
If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 
Mat. xviii. 15. 
I am perswaded Mr. Weld will in time gaine him to 
five them all that is dew to him. 
herley, quoted in Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, p. 401. 
To gratify the queen, and gain the court. 
Dryden, Knri.l. 
2. To reach by effort ; get to ; arrive at : as, to 
gain a good harbor, or the mountain-top. 
Now spurs the lated traveller apace, 
To gain the timely inn. Shak., Macbeth, iii. 3. 
The Goddess said, nor would admit Reply ; 
But cut the liquid Air, and yain'd the Sky. 
Prior, To Boileau Despreaux. 
As he gained a gray hill's brow 
He felt the sea-breeze meet him now. 
William ilorru. Earthly Paradise, III. 36. 
3. To bring or undergo an accession of; cause 
the acquisition of ; make an increase in any re- 
spect to the amount of: as, his misfortune 
gained him much sympathy ; the clock gains 
five minutes in a day; he lias gained ten pounds 
in weight. 
But their well doynge lie >/,nn-il hem but lit ill. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), Iii. 486. 
4f. To avail ; be of use to. 
Thou and I been dampned to prisouu 
Perpetually, us gaynrtli no ramisnun. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 318. 
To gain ground. See ground^ ._ Xp gain over, to draw 
from another to one's own party or interest; win over. 
TO gain the bell. See to bear away the bell, under belli. 
- To gain the wind (iumt.), to get to the windward side 
of another ship. = Syn. 1. To achieve, secure, carry, earn, 
get possession of. 
II. intrans. 1. To profit; make gain; get ad- 
vantage ; benefit. 
You must think, if we give you anything, we hope to 
gain by you. SAo*., Cor., ii. 3. 
He aaint by death, that hath such means to die. 
Shak., C. of E., iii. 2. 
2. To make progress ; advance; increase; im- 
prove ; grow : as, to gain in strength, happiness, 
health, endurance, etc. ; the patient gains daily. 
Yet in the long years liker must they grow, 
The man be more of woman, she of man ; 
He gain in sweetness and in moral height. 
Tennyson, Princess, vii. 
I think that our popular theology has gained in deco- 
rum, and not in principle, over the superstitions it has 
displaced. Emerson, Compensation. 
3f. To accrue ; be added. 
Whan he saw it al sound so glad was he thanue, 
That na gref vnder God gayned to his ioye. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2473. 
To gain on or upon, (a) To encroach gradually upon ; 
advance on and take possession of by degrees : as, the 
ocean or river gains on the land. 
Seas, that daily gain upon the shore. 
Tennyson, Golden Year. 
(b) To advance nearer, as in a race ; gain ground on ; les- 
sen the distance that separates : as, the horse gains on his 
competitor. 
And still we follow'd where she led, 
In hope to gain upon her flight. 
Tennyson, The Voyage, st. 8. 
(c) To prevail against or have the advantage over. 
The English have not only gained upon the Venetians 
in the Levant, but have their cloth in Venice itself. 
Addison. 
(d) To obtain influence with ; advance in the affections or 
good graces of. 
My . . . pood behaviour had so far gained on the em- 
peror . . . that I began to conceive hopes of ... liberty. 
Stti/f, Gulliver's Travels, i. 3. 
Such a one never contradicts you, but gain* upon you, 
not by a fulsome way of commending yon in broad terms, 
but liking whatever you propose or utter. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 208. 
gain 2 (gan), a. [< ME. gayn, gein, geyn, straight, 
direct, short, fit, good, < Icel. gegn, straight, di- 
rect, short, ready, serviceable, kindly; connect- 
2430 
ed with gegn, adv., opposite, against (= E. gain?, 
a-gain, a-gain-st) (> gagna, go against, meet, 
suit, be meet; cf. handy'*, near, with handy 1 , 
serviceable) : see gain 3 , gain-.] If. Straight ; 
direct; hence, near; short: as, the gainest way. 
The gaynest gates [way] now will we wende. 
York Playt, p. 67. 
They told me it was a gainer way, and a fairer way, and 
by that occasion I lay there a niylit. 
Laliiner, 3d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
2f. Suitable; convenient; ready. 
With that, was comen to toun, 
Rohand, with help ful gode. 
And gayn. Sir Triitrem, p. 49. 
3. In provincial English use : (<i) Easy; tolera- 
ble. Halliwell. (b) Handy; dexterous. Haiti- 
well, (c) Honest; respectable. Halliwell. (d) 
Moderate; cheap. 
I bought the horse very gain. f'orby. 
At the gainest*, or the gainest*, by the nearest or 
quickest way. 
They . . . risted theme never, . . . 
Evere the senatour for-sothe soghte at the gaynette, 
By the sevende day was gone the cetee thai rechide. 
Morte Arthvre (E. E. T. S.), 1. 487. 
I stryke at the gayneit. . . . le frappe, and ie rue atort 
et a trauers. I toke no hede what I dyd, but strake at the 
gaynest, or at all aduentures. Palsgrave. 
gain 2 (gan), adv. [< ME. gayne, fitly, quick- 
ly; from the adj.] If. Straightly; quickly; by 
the nearest way. 
Gayn vnto Grese on the gray water, 
By the Regions of Rene rode thai ferre, 
Streit by the stremys of the stithe londys. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2818. 
2. Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; mod- 
erately. [Prov. Eng.] 3. Tolerably; fairly: 
as, gain quiet (pretty quiet). Forby. [Prov. 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
gain 3 t, jtrep- [In dial, use gen, gin, as abbr. of 
again, agett, etc.; ME., also gayn, gein, gain, < 
AS. gedn, usually in comp., ongedn, ongegn, 
against : see again, against, gainst.] Against. 
For noght man may do gain mortal deth, lo ! 
Horn, of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6149. 
gain 4 (gan), n. [< W. gan, a mortise, also ca- 
pacity, < ganu, hold, contain.] 1. A mortise. 
2. In building, a beveled shoulder upon a 
binding-joist, intended to strengthen a tenon. 
3. In carp., a groove in which is slid a shelf 
or any piece similarly fitted. 4. In coal-min- 
ing, a transverse channel or cutting made in 
the sides of an underground roadway for the 
insertion of a dam or close permanent stopping, 
in order to prevent gas from escaping, or air 
from entering. Gresley. [Midland counties, 
Eng.] 
gain 4 (gan), r. t. [< gain*, .] To mortise. 
gain 5 t, . [OSc. gainye, ganye, genye ; < ME. 
gain; cf. ML. ganeo, a spear or dart; < Ir. gain, 
a dart, arrow.] A spear or javelin. 
The! lete flie to the flocke ferefull sondes, 
Gainus grounden aryght gonne they dryue. 
Alitaunder of Macedaine (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 292. 
gain-. [< ME. gain-, gayn-, gein-, gein-, etc., < 
AS. gegn-, gedn- (= G. gegen- = Icel. gegn-, 
gagn- = Sw. gen- = Dan. gjen-), prefix, being 
the prep, so used: see gain 3 .'] A prefix of 
Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning 'again, back,' or 
' against,' formerly in common use, but now ob- 
solete except in a few words, as gainsay. 
gainable (ga'na-bl), a. [< gain 1 + -able."] Ca- 
pable of being gained, obtained, or reached 
The gain or profit of tilled or planted land ; 
crop. 
As the trewe man to the ploughe 
Only to the gaignage entendeth. 
Gower, MS. Soc. Antiq., 134, f. 100. (Halliwell.) 
(6) The horses, oxen, and other instruments of 
tillage, which, when a villein was amerced, 
were left free, that cultivation might not be in- 
terrupted. Jiurrill. 
gaincomet, '' *' [ME. *gaincutnen, geincumen; 
< gain- + come, v.] To come back ; return. 
gaincomet, n. [ME., also gaincum, geyncome, 
etc. (cf. Dan. gjenkomst); \ gain- + come, n.j 
Return ; a coming again. 
They lefte a burges feyre and wheme, 
All thir schyppys for to yeme [take care of) 
Unto thir gayne-come. 
Le Bone Florence (Ritson's Metr. Rom., III.). 
But whan he saw passed both day and hour 
Of her ijaincome, in sorow gall oppresse 
His woful hart, in care and heauiness. 
Henryson, Testament of Creseide, 1. 5f>. 
gaincomingt, n. [< gain + coming, verbal n. of 
come, '.]^Return; second advent. 
gaining-rnachine 
Tin- l.k-ssf.l institution uf the I.orde Jesus, which he 
hath rominiuided to lie VSLM! in his kirk to liis gain com- 
//c/. Ilcsstminy betuix Crosraijuell and J . Knox, 
[c. ii. a. (Jamicsvn.) 
gaincopet, ' - ' [<<//- + cape 3 .] To get over 
or go across the nearest way to meet. 
Some indeed there have been, of a mure- iH-it.i.-.l strain. 
who, striving to gaincope these ambages by venturini: on 
a new discovery, have made their voyage in half the time. 
Joh. hobothain, To the Reader, in O'omenins's Janini 
[Ling. (ed. 1659). 
gaine (gan), . [F. gaine, a sheath, case, ter- 
minal (see def.). < L. vagina, a sheath: see 
rinjin/i.} In scull/., the lower 
part of a figure of which the 
head, with sometimes the bust, 
is alone carved to represent 
nature, the remaining portion 
presenting, as it were, the ap- 
pearance of a sheath closely 
enveloping the body, and 
consequently broader at the 
shoulders than at the feet. 
Sometimes the feet are indicated at 
the bottom of the gaine, as if rest- 
ing upon the pedestal of the figure. 
This form is usual in Greek archaic 
sculpture, and in Egyptian sculp- 
tures, as well as in architectural 
sculpture. 
gainer (ga'ner), n. One who 
gains or obtains profit, inter- 
est, or advantage. 
In al hattailes you {Frenchmen] 
haue been the gainers, but in leagues 
and treaties our wittes haue made you 
losers. Halt, Edw. IV., an. 13. 
Wilt thou, after the expense of so sauce sculpture. 
much money, l>e now a gainer f Maison de Pierre, 
Shalt., M. W. of W., ii. 2. Toulouse. France. 
The Crown rather was a Gainer by him, which hath 
ever since been the richer for his wearing it. 
Balm; Chronicles, p. 166. 
gainery (ga'ner-i), . [< gainl + -en/.] In laic, 
tillage, or the profit arising from it or from the 
beasts employed in it. 
gainful 1 (gau'ful), a. [< gain 1 + -ful.'] Pro- 
ducing profit or aavantage ; advancing interest 
or happiness; profitable; advantageous; lu- 
crative. 
Certainly sin is not a gainful way ; without doubt more 
men are impoverished ami beggared by sinful courses 
than enriched. Dnnne, Sermons, vil. 
In times o'ergrown with rust and ignorance, 
A gainful trade their clergy did advance. 
Dryden, Keligio Laici, 1. 371. 
They meant that their venture should be gainful, but at 
the same time believed that nothing could be long profit- 
able for the body wherein the soul found not also her ad- 
vantage. Loieell, Oration, Harvard, Nov. 8, 1886. 
gainful 2 !, . [< gainS + -ful.'] Contrary; dis- 
posed to get the advantage ; fractious. 
Jul. He will be very rough. 
Mast. We're us'd to that, sir ; 
And we as rough as he. if he give occasion. 
Jul. You will find him gainful, but be sure you curb 
him. Fletcher, Pilgrim, iv. 3. 
gainfully (gan'ful-i), adv. In a gainful man- 
ner; with increase of wealth; profitably; ad- 
vantageously. 
God . . . is sufficiently able, albeit ye receyue no recom- 
pence of menne, to make your almes dedes gainfully to 
returne vnto you. J. Udall, On Cor. ix. 
gainfulness (gan'ful-nes), n. The state or 
quality of being gainful; profitableness. 
I am told, and I believe it to be true, that the bar is get- 
ting to be more and more preferred to government service 
by the educated youth of the country, both on the score 
of its gainfwlness and on the score of its independence. 
Maine, Village Communities, App., p. 393. 
gain-gear (gan'ger), n. [Sc., < gain, areduction 
of gaeing (= E. going), + gear ; opposed to stan- 
ti iii' (= standing, fixed) gear.] In Scotland, the 
movable machinery of a mill, as distinguished 
from fixtures. Simmonds. 
gaingivingt (gan'giv'ing), w. [< gain- + giv- 
ing; perhaps only in Shakspere.] A misgiv- 
ing; a giving against or away. 
Thou wouldst not think how ill all's here about my 
heart. ... It is such a kind of yaingivin;/ as would, per- 
haps, trouble a woman. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 
gaining (ga'ning), n. [Verbal n. of gain 1 , .] 
That which one gains, as by labor, industry, 
successful enterprise, and the like : usually in 
the plural. 
He was inflexible to any mercy, unsatial.le in his gain- 
ings, equally snatching at small and great things, so much 
that he went shares with the thieves. 
Abp. Ufsher, Annals, an. 4068. 
gaining-machine (ga'ning-ma-shen*'), n. A 
machine for cutting gains, grooves, or mortises 
in timbers; a mortising-machine. 
