Attain
[ə'teɪn] or [ə'ten]
Definition
(v. t.) To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest.
(v. t.) To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire.
(v. t.) To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain.
(v. t.) To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at.
(v. t.) To overtake.
(v. t.) To reach in excellence or degree; to equal.
(v. i.) To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach.
(v. i.) To come or arrive, by an effort of mind.
(n.) Attainment.
Checker: Shari
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Procure (by effort), acquire, get, obtain, gain, win, secure, achieve, compass, accomplish, effect, hit.[2]. Reach, arrive at, come to, attain to.
Typed by Cecil
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Reach, extend, master, arrive_at, compass, earn, win, achieve, accomplish, get,obtain, acquire, gain, secure, grasp
ANT:Lose, fail, forfeit, miss, abandon, resign
Typed by Darla
Definition
v.t. to reach or gain by effort: to obtain: to reach a place: to reach.—v.i. to come or arrive: to reach.—adj. Attain′able that may be reached.—ns. Attain′ableness Attainabil′ity; Attain′ment act of attaining: the thing attained: acquisition: (pl.) acquirements in learning.
Edited by Andrea
Examples
- This increase of evaporative power increased the speed the engine could attain. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- With Plato the investigation of nature is another department of knowledge, and in this he seeks to attain only probable conclusions (Timaeus). Plato. The Republic.
- AFTER these events, it was long before we were able to attain any degree of composure. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- God knows, I put my trust in his vows, and believe his asserted faith--but for that, I would not seek what I am now resolved to attain. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Few are they who are able to attain to the sight of this. Plato. The Republic.
- Hard as she had tried in her laborious life to attain many ends, she had never tried harder than she did now, to be varnished by Mrs General. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Mechanical perfection is as nearly approached as it is possible for the best brains and the most approved methods of manufacture to attain. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It was not, however, till the invention of telegraphs that anything approaching to the means of holding regular communication by signals was attained. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- When rotating at the rate of 788 revolutions in a minute, and lifting the water 19·4 feet, the greatest practical effect, compared with the power employed, was attained. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- I beg to say, that when I use the word, gentleman, I use it in the sense in which the degree may be attained by any man. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The Wrights’ system of balance, the great original feature of their invention, is attained by what is called the warping of the wings. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- How else are these marvels of symmetry, cleanliness, and order attained? Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Tom had sat upon the bed, swinging one leg and sucking his walking-stick with sufficient unconcern, until the visit had attained this stage. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Three other engines competed with the Rocket, two of which had attained great speed on previous trials. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Yes--yes--the end is not so difficult; if I had only a brain active enough to ferret out the means of attaining it. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- For he was gradually attaining his object in life, and that, to Lily, was always less despicable than to miss it. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- And without divine help, said Adeimantus, they will go on for ever making and mending their laws and their lives in the hope of attaining perfection. Plato. The Republic.
- The opinions of those who have most studied the subject differ as to the possibility of ever attaining that desired object. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- But it is one of the things that makes people be treated as reliable who would ordinarily have to spend much more time before attaining that category. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- About the same time Robert Davidson, a Scotchman, experimented with an electric railway car sixteen feet long, weighing six tons, and attaining a speed of four miles an hour. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Instead of operating on their own account they are reduced to mere servants of attaining pleasure and avoiding pain. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- It is the soil in which invention flourishes and the organized knowledge of science attains its greatest reality. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- And do you also agree, I said, in describing the dialectician as one who attains a conception of the essence of each thing? Plato. The Republic.
Checked by Desmond