Definition of "earned" []

• Simple past tense and past participle of earn. (verb)

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• "Professional certification is a designation earned by a person to assure they meet the minimum knowledge requirements of the profession and is transferable from state to state and company to company."
• "He chose Sazanka because, in Japan, the plant represents the ideal of “never giving up”—a designation earned by the way that the flower survives the cold, even after snowfalls."
• "The title earned the Wolverines an automatic bid to the NCAAs, where they'll play Minnesota's Bemidji State Saturday in Fort Wayne, Ind. "A lot of people have jumped off the bandwagon and had an opportunity to critique Michigan," says the school's longtime hockey coach, Red Berenson."