Definition of "gain" []

• To come into possession or use of; acquire: gained a small fortune in real estate; gained vital information about the enemy's plans. (verb-transitive)
• To attain in competition or struggle; win: gained a decisive victory; gained control of the company. (verb-transitive)
• To obtain through effort or merit; achieve: gain recognition; gain a hearing for the proposal. (verb-transitive)
• To secure as profit or reward; earn: gain a living; gain extra credits in school. (verb-transitive)
• To manage to achieve an increase of: a movement that gained strength; gained wisdom with age. (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.

• "The company reported a 13% gain in 2009 revenue to $981 million and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization of $311 million for the year, which represented a 10 gain%."
• "_____________ Class: ______________ Revision notes on Chemical Bonding Atoms lose or gain electrons to achieve a stable octet structure. (8 valence electrons)  Metal atoms  give away electrons positive ions (cations)  Non-metals gain electrons  negative ions (anions)."
• "Whatever is the master's gain is the slave's loss, a loss wrested from him by the master, for the express purpose of making it _his own gain_; this is the master's constant employment -- forcing the slave to toil -- violently wringing from him all he has and all he gets, and using it as his own; -- like the vile bird that never builds its nest from materials of its own gathering, but either drives other birds from theirs and takes possession of them, or tears them in pieces to get the means of constructing their own."