acquire

«acquire» in Mova's school dictionary: To get or gain something, by buying it, being given it or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (acquire, acquires, acquired, acquiring); noun acquisition

meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) To get or gain something, by buying it, being given it or working for it. tree →

2) To learn or develop a skill, habit, knowledge or quality. tree →

3) (business) To buy another company. tree →

sense in the lessons

A formal word in exam maths problems: «Ben acquires 8 more marbles» means he gets 8 more — add. In science, animals acquire habits; in language lessons, children acquire words. Phrases: «acquire a taste for», «acquire skills», «acquire knowledge».

examples

• She hopes to acquire a pet rabbit. tree →
• Children acquire language by listening. tree →
• If Tom has 12 cards and acquires 9 more, he has 21. tree →
• You can acquire new skills by practising. tree →
• The library plans to acquire more books. tree →
• He acquired a taste for spicy food. tree →
• It takes years to acquire great knowledge. tree →

note

Formal; everyday: «get», «buy», «learn». Spelling: «acq-». In maths, «acquire» usually means an addition to the amount someone already has.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «acquire» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.