acquire

1 to come to have gradually from years of working two jobs, he has acquired the ability to get by on only a few hours of sleep a day Synonyms develop, cultivate, formRelated Words absorb, adopt, embrace, take in, take on; gain, get, obtain; achieve, attain, reach; foster, nourish, nurture, promoteNear Antonyms abandon, desert, forsake; cast, discard, ditch, dump, fling (off or away), jettison, junk, reject, scrap, shed, shuck (off), slough (also sluff), throw away, throw out, unloadAntonyms lose

2 to receive as return for effort acquired a reputation for always arriving at his friends' house just as they were sitting down to dinner Synonyms earn, attain, bag, bring in, capture, carry, come by, draw, gain, garner, get, knock down, land, make, obtain, procure, pull down, realize, reap, secure, winRelated 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, remakeNear Antonyms accord, give, grant, pay; give up, hand over, part (with), relinquish, surrender, yieldAntonyms forfeit, lose