gain

noun \ ˈgān \

|Updated on: 10 Jul 2018

Examples: gain in a Sentence

Definition of gain

1 : resources or advantage acquired or increased : profit

made substantial gains last year

2 : the act or process of acquiring something

3 a : an increase in amount, magnitude, or degree

a gain in efficiency

b : the increase (as of voltage or signal intensity) caused by an amplifier; especially : the ratio of output over input

c : the signal-gathering ability of an antenna

See gain defined for English-language learners

See gain defined for kids

Examples of gain in a Sentence

The medication can cause nausea and weight gain.
attributed her recent weight gain to the medication she was taking

Recent Examples of gain from the Web

Monthly employment increased 223,000 in May and gains have averaged a robust 207,000 for the first five months of 2018, according to Labor’s figures.

— paul davidson, USA TODAY, "ADP: Businesses added 177,000 jobs in June," 5 July 2018
Although there are gains at less selective institutions, the colleges and universities that produce an outsized share of leaders in technology, law, academia, and business still have few Native American, black, and Latino students.

— richard j. reddick, Fortune, "How Undoing Affirmative Action Hurts America's Colleges," 5 July 2018
But companies that embraced the shift away from having employees have reaped big gains.

— The Economist, "Run, TaskRabbit, run: July 2030," 5 July 2018
Less than a decade into the fund, Greenlight had annual gains as high as 58%.

— gregory zuckerman, WSJ, "‘This Is Unbelievable’: A Hedge Fund Star Dims, and Investors Flee," 4 July 2018
Denver’s preference to shed salary is the Sixers’ gain, as Philly picks up a 3-and-D swingman who slots nicely into their open cap space.

— rohan nadkarni, SI.com, "Trade Grades: Sixers Use Cap Space to Snag Wilson Chandler From Nuggets," 3 July 2018
For the first fiscal quarter, Sears reported a net loss of $424 million compared to net income of $245 million in the year-ago period when the company had a temporary gain from the sale of its Craftsman brand.

— marc daalder, Detroit Free Press, "Every Sears and Kmart store in Michigan that isn't closing," 2 July 2018
Judo Adults and children can learn new skills, get in shape, gain self-confidence and self-discipline.

— mary lou cruz, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Deerfield and Pompano Beach area events, July 4-14," 1 July 2018
While they are allowed to accept certain types of gifts, the royals aren’t allowed to accept gifts intended for commercial gain, which includes clothing.

— sarah midkiff, refinery29.com, "We've Seen $1 Million Of Meghan Markle's Royal Wardrobe," 30 June 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of gain

Middle English gain, borrowed from Anglo-French gain, gaigne, gaaing "tillage, winning, profit," derivative of gaainer, gaaigner "to till, secure (profit, advantage)" — more at ²gain

Note: See note at ²gain.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

gain Synonyms

gain

verb

Definition of gain

gained; gaining; gains

transitive verb

1 a : to acquire or get possession of usually by industry, merit, or craft

gain an advantage

he stood to gain a fortune

b : to win in competition or conflict

the troops gained enemy territory

c (1) : to arrive at : reach, attain

gained the river that night

(2) : traverse, cover

gained 10 yards on the play

d : to get by a natural development or process

gain strength

e : to establish a specific relationship with

gain a friend

2 a : to make an increase of (a specified amount)

gained three percent in the past month

b : to increase in (a particular quality)

gain momentum

3 : to win to one's side : persuade

gain adherents to a cause

4 : to cause to be obtained or given : attract

gain attention

5 of a timepiece : to run fast by the amount of

the clock gains a minute a day

intransitive verb

1 : to get advantage : profit

hoped to gain by the deal

2 a : increase

the day was gaining in warmth

b : to increase in weight

c : to improve in health or ability

3 of a timepiece : to run fast

4 : to get closer to something pursued —usually used with on or upon

—

gainer

noun

— gain ground

: to make progress

See gain defined for English-language learners

Examples of gain in a Sentence

They stand to gain an advantage over their competitors by getting an early start.
What do you hope to gain from this?
gain control of the territory
Investigators are trying to gain access to the group's financial records.
We were unable to gain admission to the club.
We need to gain a better understanding of the problem.
They had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
He first gained attention as a young writer.
Her theories are slowly gaining acceptance.
I took the job to gain experience.

Recent Examples of gain from the Web

Wind speed measurements taken by the Voyager probes, which flew past Jupiter in the 1970s, had already suggested that Jupiter’s large flows gain energy from smaller eddies.

— joshua sokol, WIRED, "Flattened Fluids Help Scientists Understand Oceans and Atmospheres," 7 July 2018
Hurricane Beryl became the first hurricane of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season Friday morning after gaining strength overnight.

— billy perrigo, Time, "Hurricane Beryl Is Officially the First Atlantic Hurricane of the Year. Here's Where it's Headed," 6 July 2018
Racial disparities in the criminal justice system have gained increased attention in recent years, and BART has been far from alone in attracting scrutiny.

— ted andersen, SFChronicle.com, "Two-thirds of people banned from BART are black — and agency isn’t asking why," 6 July 2018
In the healthcare fight, Democrats succeeded in turning public opinion against the GOP measures enough to hold all their own senators and gain the votes of three Republicans.

— david lauter, latimes.com, "As Trump readies Supreme Court pick, Democrats prepare a fight even though a loss is likely," 6 July 2018
Participants will learn to use zines for audience engagement and will gain exposures to an abbreviated history of Afrofuturism in Southern California.

— phillip molnar, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Comic-Con 2018: Here's your Thursday schedule," 6 July 2018
Though its gaining support among biologists and conservationists, getting politicians and policy-makers onboard is a larger challenge.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Australian Reptiles And a Toad Named After Gollum on Latest Endangered Species Update," 6 July 2018
The only country to have built nuclear weapons and then renounced them, gaining NPT membership and respectability, is South Africa.

— The Economist, "North Korea presents nuclear disarmament’s biggest challenge yet," 5 July 2018
In the myth of the game, the decisive moment is supposed to have come when Uruguay’s captain Obdulio Varela punched Brazil left back Bigode and gained a psychological advantage.

— jonathan wilson, SI.com, "Manager Oscar Tabarez Wields His Influence to Mold, Adapt, Embody Uruguay," 5 July 2018

Origin and Etymology of gain

Middle English gaynen "to prevail against," borrowed from Anglo-French gaainer, gaaigner "to cultivate, till, secure (profit, advantage), capture, acquire, be victorious," going back to Old Low Franconian *waiđanjan, of uncertain meaning and origin

Note: The presumed Old Low Franconian verb *waiđanjan has no exact counterpart in neighboring Germanic languages, and given the diverse meanings of the French verb, hypotheses that explain it are all somewhat tenuous. The base has traditionally been taken to be that of Old High German weida "pasture," Old Saxon weiđa, from which a verb meaning "to pasture" was derived, which then hypothetically developed the sense "to cultivate, till" and further derived senses. Alternatively, the verb could be linked to Old High German weidenōn "to hunt," a derivative of weida "hunt, quantity of game taken, catch" (corresponding to Old English wāth "hunt, chase, wandering," Old Norse veiðr "catch, haul of fish"). In Middle English both the noun and verb are presumed to have crossed with borrowings of Old Norse gagn "advantage, victory." Early Modern English gain has acquired senses directly from Middle French and French gagner.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

gain Synonyms

Synonyms

acquire, attain, bag, bring in, capture, carry, come by, draw, earn, garner, get, knock down, land, make, obtain, procure, pull down, realize, reap, secure, win;

Antonyms

forfeit, lose;

Near Antonyms

accord, give, grant, pay;

give up, hand over, part (with), relinquish, surrender, yield;

Related Words

clear, gross, net;

accomplish, achieve, notch (up), score;

accumulate, amass, draw, rack up;

catch, pick up;

annex, occupy, take over;

reacquire, reattain, recapture, regain, remake;

Financial Definition of GAIN

gain

noun

What It Is

A gain, also called a capital gain, is an increase in the value of an investment. It is the difference between the purchase price (the basis) and the sale price of an asset. Thus the formula for gain is:

Sale Price - Purchase Price = Gain

Note that this formula assumes the sale price is higher than the purchase price. If an investor sells an asset for less than he or she paid, this is called a loss.

How It Works

Let's assume you purchase 100 shares of Company XYZ for $1 per share. After three months, the share price increases to $5. This means the value of the investment has increased from $100 to $500, for a gain of $400.

Why It Matters

Gains are taxable, but only when they are realized. That is, they only become taxable when the asset is sold. Until that point, any gains are considered unrealized and are not taxable. The IRS considers nearly every asset owned by individuals and companies as capital assets and thus subject to capital gains taxes.

Taxpayers report capital gains on IRS Schedule D, but these gains are subject to different tax rates depending on whether they are short-term or long-term (and in some cases depending on the type of asset). In the example above, if you sold the Company XYZ shares after a year, the IRS would consider your $400 profit a long-term capital gain and tax it at one of several flat rates. However, if you sold the Company XYZ shares after just three months, the IRS would consider your $400 profit a short-term capital gain and tax that $400 at your ordinary income tax rate, which varies by several factors, including which state you live in, and is generally higher than the long-term capital gains tax rate. This system encourages long-term investing, but there are still many logical reasons an investor might want to sell an asset before a year has passed.

Some retirement vehicles, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, allow investors to buy and sell assets within these vehicles without becoming subject to capital gains tax. This tax deferral effectively gives investors a larger balance on which to compound interest or returns, with capital gains tax applying only when the investor begins to make withdrawals.

An investor's capital losses sometimes will offset all or a portion of his or her capital gains, lowering the investor's tax bill. There is a limit, however, to how much the investor can offset. Note also that the IRS does not treat the distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, like those from a mutual fund, for example, as capital gains. The IRS treats those as ordinary dividends.

Source: Investing Answers

GAIN Defined for English Language Learners

gain

noun

Definition of gain for English Language Learners

: something wanted or valued that is gotten : something that is gained; especially : money gotten through some activity or process
: something that is helpful : advantage or benefit
: an increase in amount, size, or number

gain

verb

Definition of gain for English Language Learners

: to get (something wanted or valued)
: to win (something) in a competition, battle, etc.
: to gradually get (something) or more of (something) as time passes

GAIN Defined for Kids

gain

noun \ ˈgān \

Definition of gain for Students

1 : something valuable or desirable that is obtained or acquired : profit

financial gains

2 : an increase in amount, size, or degree

gain

verb

Definition of gain for Students

gained; gaining

1 : to get or win often by effort

You gain knowledge by study.

He exercised to gain strength.

2 : to get or acquire in a natural or gradual way

He gained ten pounds.

3 : to increase in

The car gained speed.

4 : to get to : reach

The swimmer gained the shore.

5 : to get an advantage : profit

We all gained from the lesson.

Medical Dictionary

gain

intransitive verb \ ˈgān \

medical Definition of gain

: to improve in health

the patient gained daily

Law Dictionary

gain

noun

legal Definition of gain

1 : an increase in value, capital, or amount — compare loss

— capital gain

: a gain realized on the sale or exchange of a capital asset (as a stock or real estate)

— casualty gain

: a gain realized by an insured because property insurance benefits paid for a loss from a casualty or theft are greater than the adjusted value of the insured asset

— long-term capital gain

: a capital gain realized on the sale or exchange of an asset held for more than a specified period (as a year)

— ordinary gain

: a gain from the exchange or sale of an asset that is not capital

— short-term capital gain

: a capital gain realized on the sale or exchange of an asset held for less than a specified period (as a year) that is treated as ordinary income under federal income tax laws

2 plural, in the civil law of Louisiana : a class of community property that reflects the increase in property value contributed by the common skill or labor of the spouses

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