# gather
## English
### Alternative forms

* gether (obsolete or regional)

### Etymology

From Middle English gaderen, from Old English gaderian (“to gather, assemble”), from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn (“to bring together, unite, gather”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to unite, assemble, keep”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɡæðə/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈɡæðɚ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æðə(ɹ)

### Verb

gather (third-person singular simple present gathers, present participle gathering, simple past and past participle gathered)
* 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.
** Especially, to harvest food.
    We went to gather some blackberries from the nearby lane.
** To accumulate over time, to amass little by little.
    Over the years he'd gathered a considerable collection of mugs.
** (intransitive) To congregate, or assemble.
    People gathered round as he began to tell his story.
*** 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part IV”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 66:Tears from the depth of some divine despair / Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, […]
*** 2010, “Ardebil, East and West Azerbaijan Provinces”, in F. Ghani, transl., Iran The Ancient Land in Persian, English & German‎, 9th edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 231:At the north-western most of Iran, to the south of Maku, is the Church of Qara Kelisa (meaning the Black Church) in a village of the same name. Here is reputed to be the burialplace of St. Thaddeus and every year thousands of Armenians gather there for prayer.
** (intransitive) To grow gradually larger by accretion.
*** 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:Their snow-ball did not gather as it went.
* To bring parts of a whole closer.
    She gathered the shawl about her as she stepped into the cold.
** (sewing) To add pleats or folds to a piece of cloth, normally to reduce its width.
    A gown should be gathered around the top so that it will remain shaped.
** (knitting) To bring stitches closer together.
    Be careful not to stretch or gather your knitting.
    If you want to emphasise the shape, it is possible to gather the waistline.
** (architecture) To bring together, or nearer together, in masonry, as for example where the width of a fireplace is rapidly diminished to the width of the flue.
** (nautical) To haul in; to take up.
    to gather the slack of a rope
* 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.
** 1960 January, “Talking of Trains: The Seven Bridge disaster”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:Press reports of the length of time the bridge is likely to be out of action vary greatly, but Mr. Farr gathers that a temporary structure may be ready in six months; complete reconstruction, however, will take at least two years. [It was never rebuilt or replaced, and demolished instead.]
* (intransitive, medicine, of a boil or sore) To be filled with pus
    Salt water can help boils to gather and then burst.
* (glassblowing) To collect molten glass on the end of a tool.
* To gain; to win.
** 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:He gathers ground upon her in the chase.

#### Synonyms

* (to bring together): aggroup, togetherize; see also Thesaurus:round up
    (—to accumulate over time): accrue, add up; see also Thesaurus:accumulate
    (—to congregate): assemble, begather; see also Thesaurus:assemble

#### Derived terms

* a closed mouth gathers no feet
* begather
* be gathered to one's fathers
* chip-and-gather
* chip and gather
* forgather
* gatherable
* gather dust
* gatherer
* gathering board
* gathering coal
* gathering hoop
* gather oneself
* gather oneself together
* gather one's thoughts
* gather one's wits
* gather pace
* gather rosebuds
* gather speed
* gather steam
* gather strength
* gather up
* gather way
* gather wool
* hunter-gathering
* ingather
* misgather
* omnium-gatherum
* regather
* together
* upgather
* woolgather
* wool-gather
* wool-gathering

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

gather (plural gathers)
* A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through it; a pucker.
* The inclination forward of the axle journals to keep the wheels from working outward.
* (masonry) The soffit or under surface of the masonry required in gathering. See gather#verb.
* (glassblowing) A blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe.
* A gathering.
** 2007, John Barnes, The Sky So Big and Black, Tor Books, →ISBN:"I'll tell you all about it at the Gather, win or lose."
** 2014, Paul Lederer, Dark Angel Riding, Open Road Media, →ISBN:What bothered him more, he thought as he started Washoe southward, was Spikes's animosity, the bearded man's sudden violent reaction to his arrival at the gather.

#### Derived terms

* gathering iron

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* Gareth, rageth