Gather (gă&thlig_;&etilde_;r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gathered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Gathering.] [OE. gaderen, AS. gaderian, gadrian, fr. gador, geador, together, fr. gæd fellowship; akin to E. good, D. gaderen to collect, G. gatte husband, MHG. gate, also companion, Goth. gadiliggs a sister's son. √29. See Good, and cf. Together.]
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1. To bring together; to collect, as a number of separate things, into one place, or into one aggregate body; to assemble; to muster; to congregate.
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And Belgium's capital had gathered them
Her beauty and her chivalry. Byron.
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When he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together. Matt. ii. 4.
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2. To pick out and bring together from among what is of less value; to collect, as a harvest; to harvest; to cull; to pick off; to pluck.
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A rose just gathered from the stalk. Dryden.
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Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matt. vii. 16.
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Gather us from among the heathen. Ps. cvi. 47.
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3. To accumulate by collecting and saving little by little; to amass; to gain; to heap up.
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He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. Prov. xxviii. 8.
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To pay the creditor . . . he must gather up money by degrees. Locke.
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4. To bring closely together the parts or particles of; to contract; to compress; to bring together in folds or plaits, as a garment; also, to draw together, as a piece of cloth by a thread; to pucker; to plait; as, to gather a ruffle.
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Gathering his flowing robe, he seemed to stand
In act to speak, and graceful stretched his hand. Pope.
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5. To derive, or deduce, as an inference; to collect, as a conclusion, from circumstances that suggest, or arguments that prove; to infer; to conclude.
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Let me say no more!
Gather the sequel by that went before. Shak.
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6. To gain; to win. [Obs.]
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He gathers ground upon her in the chase. Dryden.
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7. (Arch.) To bring together, or nearer together, in masonry, as where the width of a fireplace is rapidly diminished to the width of the flue, or the like.
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8. (Naut.) To haul in; to take up; as, to gather the slack of a rope.
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To be gathered to one's people or To be gathered to one's fathers to die. Gen. xxv. 8. -- To gather breath, to recover normal breathing after being out of breath; to get one's breath; to rest. Spenser. -- To gather one's self together, to collect and dispose one's powers for a great effort, as a beast crouches preparatory to a leap. -- To gather way (Naut.), to begin to move; to move with increasing speed.
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Gather, n. 1. A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through it; a pucker.
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2. (Carriage Making) The inclination forward of the axle journals to keep the wheels from working outward.
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3. (Arch.) The soffit or under surface of the masonry required in gathering. See Gather, v. t., 7.
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