attain

verb at·tain \ ə-ˈtān \

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Examples: attain in a Sentence

Definition of attain

attained; attaining; attains

transitive verb

1 : to reach as an end : gain, achieve

attain a goal

2 : to come into possession of : obtain

he attained preferment over his fellows

3 : to come to as the end of a progression or course of movement

They attained the top of the hill.

attain a ripe old age

intransitive verb

: to come or arrive by motion, growth, or effort —usually used with to

will probably attain to a height of six feet

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attainability

play \-ˌtā-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

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attainable

play \-ˈtā-nə-bəl\ adjective

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Examples of attain in a Sentence

a quest to attain enlightenment
She refused to let the injury keep her from attaining her goal of being in the Olympics.
This kind of tree can attain a height of 20 feet within just a few years.
The car can attain a top speed of 200 mph.

Recent Examples of attain from the Web

But because the movie, written by Lem Dobbs and Leo Rossi (an actor who appears in the film while also serving as one of approximately 700 credited producers), never attains a point of view on the character, one can’t really say.

— New York Times, "Review: John Travolta Has the Dapper Look, but ‘Gotti’ Is a Mess," 15 June 2018
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the U.S. model attains a 4 out of 5 for reliability.

— scott sturgis, Philly.com, "Traversing France in the Toyota C-HR Hybrid," 14 June 2018
Hurricane Bud became the second straight storm to reach Category 4 intensity following Aletta, which attained such strength Friday.

— jason samenow, Washington Post, "Category 3 Hurricane Bud forecast to strike Mexico as strong tropical storm," 12 June 2018
His jockey, Mike Smith, who has more than 5,400 career wins, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003 and has attained 26 Breeders’ Cup wins, the most of any jockey.

— PEOPLE.com, "Justify Wins the Belmont Stakes, and Races Into History as the New Triple Crown Winner," 9 June 2018
Under 32-year coach Joe Siciliano, Newton North lost its final five games of the season but attain a balanced lineup and strong pitching led by junior righthander Kenny Schecter.

— chris bokum, BostonGlobe.com, "2018 MIAA baseball tournament brackets," 5 June 2018
Cara is always looking for women’s and men’s business attire for its clients who are climbing out of poverty and attaining a job in the workplace.

— ellen warren, chicagotribune.com, "Is that handbag real, or fake? Here's how to prove your designer bag is the real thing," 4 June 2018
And is the Musk suite of companies some cult wherein an elite few attain the salvation of Mars and the rest of us are doomed to ride the bus for all eternity?

— eben weiss, Outside Online, "Let's Fire Elon Musk Into Space," 31 May 2018
This proposal means that veterans who served but didn’t die in combat or attain the highest honor would be ineligible for burial at Arlington— likely changing funeral plans for many current veterans living in the U.S.

— julissa treviño, Smithsonian, "Arlington Cemetery Considers New Rules for Eligibility," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'attain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of attain

Middle English atteynen, from Anglo-French ateign-, stem of ateindre to reach, accomplish, convict, from Vulgar Latin *attangere, alteration of Latin attingere, from ad- + tangere to touch — more at ²tangent

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

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