attain

verb at·tain \ ə-ˈtān \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of attain

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

See attain defined for English-language learners

See attain defined for kids

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

Today, more than ever before, adequate math and science proficiency is a prerequisite for a nation to attain high-income status and the gains in health and well-being that go along with it.

— Washington Post, "Africa’s scientists encouraged to become the next Einstein," 7 Apr. 2018
These rules under the Clean Air Act set airborne limits for six pollutants including lead and ozone and flags parts of the country that fail to attain these standards.

— umair irfan, Vox, "Scott Pruitt’s ethics scandals aren’t stopping him from gutting the EPA," 6 Apr. 2018
To attain Eagle Scout status, the young men had to achieve six advancements in rank, earn 21 merit badges and complete a community service project.

— rich heileman, cleveland.com, "Joining the Eagles: Bachie, Miu attain scouting's top rank: Around The Town," 30 Mar. 2018
The new probe will take about 60 days to attain its highly elliptical, first-of-a-kind orbit that will loop TESS between Earth and the moon every two and a half weeks.

— steve gorman, The Christian Science Monitor, "NASA continues exploration of unknown planets orbiting stars outside our solar system," 29 Mar. 2018
Hollywood is notorious for holding actors to unbelievably high, impossible-to-attain standards of beauty.

— andrea park, Teen Vogue, "Dove Cameron Opened Up About Recovering From Anorexia," 28 Mar. 2018
Another possible factor: Android was playing catch-up with Apple for many years, and was eager to attract app developers in order to attain parity with Apple’s App Store.

— ryan nakashima and mae anderson, BostonGlobe.com, "How Facebook was able to siphon off phone call and text logs," 27 Mar. 2018
Like innumerable athletes before him, whether Olympians or not, Shuster had a goal and worked hard to attain it.

— glenna christensen, idahostatesman, "Like Olympians, followers of Christ keep their goal in sight | Idaho Statesman," 9 Mar. 2018
Wayne State officials said earlier this week that attaining official student organization status is a privilege that is conditional on compliance with the university's policies regarding nondiscrimination and equal opportunity.

— ann zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, "Wayne State University re-certifies Christian student group InterVarsity," 8 Mar. 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

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First Known Use: 14th century

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