Part 409

To gratify the queen, and gained the court.

Dryden.

4. To reach; to attain to; to arrive at; as, to gain the top of a mountain; to gain a good harbor.

Forded Usk and gained the wood.

Tennyson.

5. To get, incur, or receive, as loss, harm, or damage. [Obs. or Ironical]

Ye should . . . not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.

Acts xxvii. 21.

Gained day, the calendar day gained in sailing eastward around the earth. -- To gain ground, to make progress; to advance in any undertaking; to prevail; to acquire strength or extent. -- To gain over, to draw to one's party or interest; to win over. -- To gain the wind (Naut.), to reach the windward side of another ship.

Syn. -- To obtain; acquire; get; procure; win; earn; attain; achieve. See Obtain. -- To Gain, Win. Gain implies only that we get something by exertion; win, that we do it in competition with others. A person gains knowledge, or gains a prize, simply by striving for it; he wins a victory, or wins a prize, by taking it in a struggle with others.

Gain (?), v. i. To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress; as, the sick man gains daily.

Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion.

Ezek. xxii. 12.

Gaining twist, in rifled firearms, a twist of the grooves, which increases regularly from the breech to the muzzle. To gain on or upon. (a) To encroach on; as, the ocean gains on the land. (b) To obtain influence with. (c) To win ground upon; to move faster than, as in a race or contest. (d) To get the better of; to have the advantage of.

The English have not only gained upon the Venetians in the Levant, but have their cloth in Venice itself.

Addison.

My good behavior had so far gained on the emperor, that I began to conceive hopes of liberty.

Swift.

Gain"a*ble (?), a. [CF. F. gagnable. See Gain, v. t.] Capable of being obtained or reached. Sherwood.

Gain"age (?, 48), n. [OF. gaignage pasturage, crop, F. gaignage pasturage. See Gain, v. t.] (O. Eng. Law) (a) The horses, oxen, plows, wains or wagons and implements for carrying on tillage. (b) The profit made by tillage; also, the land itself. Bouvier.

Gain"er (?), n. One who gains. Shak.

Gain"ful (?), a. Profitable; advantageous; lucrative. "A gainful speculation." Macaulay. -- Gain"ful*ly, adv. -- Gain"ful*ness, n.

Gain"giv`ing (?), n. [See Again, and Give.] A misgiving. [Obs.]

Gain"less, a. Not producing gain; unprofitable. Hammond. -- Gain"less/ness, n.

Gain"ly, adv. [See Gain, a.] Handily; readily; dexterously; advantageously. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

Gain"pain` (?), n.[F. gagner to gain + pain bread.] Bread-gainer; -- a term applied in the Middle Ages to the sword of a hired soldier.

Gain`say" (? or ?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gainsaid (? or ?); p. pr. & vb. n. Gainsaying.] [OE. geinseien, ageinseien. See Again, and Say to utter.] To contradict; to deny; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.

I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.