Entry Word: gather

Function: verb

Meaning: 1 to bring together in one body or place <he gathered the leftovers from the table and gave them to the dog> <let's gather the students and have them line up on the playground before going in from recess>

Synonyms accumulate, amass, assemble, collect, concentrate, garner, group, lump, pick up, round up, scrape (together)

Related Words agglomerate, aggregate, ball, bunch, cluster, huddle; heap, pile, stack; muster, raise, rally; flock, herd, hive, pack, press, swarm, throng, troop; congregate, forgather (or foregather), meet, rendezvous; affiliate, ally, combine, connect, join, link, merge, unite; arrange, organize, systematize; regather, regroup

Phrases get together

Near Antonyms break up, disband, disintegrate, dissolve, separate, sever, split (up); dismiss, send

Antonyms dispel, disperse, dissipate, scatter

2 to catch or collect (a crop or natural resource) for human use <July and August is when we gather the tomatoes and begin canning them for the winter> — see harvest
3 to come together into one body or place <a crowd gathered around the street musician> <ask the faculty to gather in the lounge for the meeting> — see assemble 1
4 to form an opinion through reasoning and information <I gather that, since you are back so early, she didn't want to see you?> — see infer 1
5 to gradually form into a layer, pile, or mass <the newspapers that had been allowed to gather on the front doorstep told thieves that the family was away on vacation> — see collect 2
6 to increase in <the car gathered speed as it rolled down the hill> — see gain 1