gain

«gain» in Mova's school dictionary: to get more of something, like weight, points, speed or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (gain, gains, gained, gaining); noun (a gain, gains)

meaning for a pupil

1) To gain is to get more of something, like weight, points, speed or money. tree →

2) To gain something can mean to win or earn it, like gaining a friend or gaining skill. tree →

3) A gain is an increase, or something you get. tree →

4) A gain in money is a profit: you sell something for more than it cost. tree →

5) To gain on someone is to get closer to them in a race. tree →

sense in the lessons

An action that adds: points gained, weight gained, money gained as profit; in maths gain is the opposite of loss. In science: a plant gains height, the Earth gains heat from the Sun. In sport: the team gained 15 yards. In stories: the runner gained on the leader. Phrases: «gain weight», «gain on», «gain time», «no pain, no gain».

examples

• The puppy gained 2 kilograms. tree →
• The team gained 15 yards. tree →
• He gained 30 dollars when he sold the bike. tree →
• She gains 5 points each round. tree →
• Practise every day and you will gain skill. tree →
• The fox was gaining on the rabbit. tree →
• The shop made a gain of 10 dollars on each toy. tree →
• Our class gained three new pupils this term. tree →
• The hare at last gained on the monkey. tree →

note

Gain means add (or, for profit, selling price minus cost). Trap: «gained 2 kg» is the change, not the new weight: add it to the start. Gain is the opposite of lose or loss. Regular verb: gained.

In the corpora

• Banded mongooses pick ticks off warthogs lying down; a friendship where both sides gain is called mutualism.
• "Efficiency gains" often means fewer staff doing the same work.
• In 1817 the economist David Ricardo explained that countries gain by doing what they do best and trading, like swapping spare stickers.
• History is not about blaming children today; it is about understanding what was lost and gained, and treating each other fairly now.
• The car gains 60 − 40 = 20 km each hour, so it catches the bus after 120 / 20 = 6 hours.

Trees and pragmatics

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