Definition of "acquire" []

• To gain possession of: acquire 100 shares of stock. (verb-transitive)
• To get by one's own efforts: acquire proficiency in math. (verb-transitive)
• To gain through experience; come by: acquired a growing dislike of television sitcoms. (verb-transitive)
• To locate (a moving object) with a tracking system, such as radar. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Only later, when fear had been replaced by boredom, did the term acquire a derogatory shading."
• "Not until the time of Linnæus (1707-1778) did the term acquire a definite and precise meaning."
• "The historical events which mothers take part in acquire the greatness and invincibility of natural phenomena."