gathering

[gath -er-ing] /ˈgæð ər ɪŋ/
noun
1.
an assembly or meeting.
2.
an assemblage of people; group or crowd.
3.
a collection, assemblage, or compilation of anything.
4.
the act of a person or thing that gathers.
5.
something that is gathered together.
6.
a gather or a series of gathers in cloth.
7.
an inflamed and suppurating swelling.
8.
(in a flue, duct, or the like) a tapered section forming a transition between two sections, one of which has a greater area than the other.
9.
Bookbinding. a section in a book, usually a sheet cut into several leaves.
Origin
before 900; Middle English gaderinge, Old English gaderunge. See gather, -ing1
Synonyms
1. assemblage. 2. congregation, concourse, company, throng. 7. boil, abscess, carbuncle.

gather

[gath -er] /ˈgæð ər/
verb (used with object)
1.
to bring together into one group, collection, or place:
to gather firewood; to gather the troops.
2.
to bring together or assemble from various places, sources, or people; collect gradually:
The college is gathering a faculty from all over the country.
3.
to serve as a center of attention for; attract:
A good football game always gathers a crowd.
4.
to pick or harvest (any crop or natural yield) from its place of growth or formation:
to gather fruit; to gather flowers.
5.
to pick up piece by piece:
Gather your toys from the floor.
6.
to pick or scoop up:
She gathered the crying child in her arms.
7.
to collect (as taxes, dues, money owed, etc.).
8.
to accumulate; increase:
The storm gathers force. The car gathered speed.
9.
to take by selection from among other things; sort out; cull.
10.
to assemble or collect (one's energies or oneself) as for an effort (often followed by up):
He gathered up his strength for the hard job.
11.
to learn or conclude from observation; infer; deduce:
I gather that he is the real leader.
12.
to wrap or draw around or close:
He gathered his scarf around his neck.
13.
to contract (the brow) into wrinkles.
14.
to draw (cloth) up on a thread in fine folds or puckers by means of even stitches.
15.
Bookbinding. to assemble (the printed sections of a book) in proper sequence for binding.
16.
Nautical. to gain (way) from a dead stop or extremely slow speed.
17.
Metalworking. to increase the sectional area of (stock) by any of various operations.
18.
Glassmaking. to accumulate or collect (molten glass) at the end of a tube for blowing, shaping, etc.
verb (used without object)
19.
to come together around a central point; assemble:
Let's gather round the fire and sing.
20.
to collect or accumulate:
Clouds were gathering in the northeast.
21.
to grow, as by accretion; increase.
22.
to become contracted into wrinkles, folds, creases, etc., as the brow or as cloth.
23.
to come to a head, as a sore in suppurating.
noun
24.
a drawing together; contraction.
25.
Often, gathers. a fold or pucker, as in gathered cloth.
26.
an act or instance of gathering.
27.
an amount or number gathered, as during a harvest.
28.
Glassmaking. a mass of molten glass attached to the end of a punty.
Idioms
29.
be gathered to one's fathers, to die.
Origin
before 900; Middle English gaderen, Old English gaderian, derivative of geador together, akin to gæd fellowship; cf. together, good
Related forms
gatherable, adjective
gatherer, noun
pregather, verb (used without object)
regather, verb
ungathered, adjective
well-gathered, adjective
Synonyms
1, 2. accumulate, amass, garner, hoard. Gather, assemble, collect, muster, marshal imply bringing or drawing together. Gather expresses the general idea usually with no implication of arrangement: to gather seashells. Assemble is used of objects or facts brought together preparatory to arranging them: to assemble data for a report. Collect implies purposeful accumulation to form an ordered whole: to collect evidence. Muster, primarily a military term, suggests thoroughness in the process of collection: to muster all one's resources. Marshal, another term primarily military, suggests rigorously ordered, purposeful arrangement: to marshal facts for effective presentation. 4. pluck, crop, reap, glean, garner. 11. assume, understand. 20. accrete.
Antonyms
1, 19. separate, disperse.
Examples from the web for gathering
  • Over the next several decades, it was a congenial gathering spot for aviators, celebrities and even presidents.
  • The last of the office lights are being turned off in the gathering dusk which marks the end of another day's administrative toil.
  • Three ravens perch on a camels back gathering molting hair for nests.
  • But gathering data on granule cells turned out to be not so easy.
  • Their gathering of wood was also ravaging the arid, ecologically fragile region.
  • Both will now start gathering large amounts of deposits, a more stable form of funding.
  • One thing that seems clear is that the sharks are not gathering at such locations because seamounts are a source of abundant food.
  • What's behind the die-off is still a mystery, but one researcher plans to spend this summer gathering clues.
  • But the gathering of the knowledge that informs the simulation has been the patient labor of years.
  • The open, well-lit kitchen is the central gathering spot in this house.
British Dictionary definitions for gathering

gathering

/ˈɡæðərɪŋ/
noun
1.
a group of people, things, etc, that are gathered together; assembly
2.
(sewing) a gather or series of gathers in material
3.
  1. the formation of pus in a boil
  2. the pus so formed
4.
(printing) an informal name for section (sense 17)

gather

/ˈɡæðə/
verb
1.
to assemble or cause to assemble
2.
to collect or be collected gradually; muster
3.
(transitive) to learn from information given; conclude or assume
4.
(transitive) to pick or harvest (flowers, fruit, etc)
5.
(transitive; foll by to or into) to clasp or embrace: the mother gathered the child into her arms
6.
(transitive) to bring close (to) or wrap (around): she gathered her shawl about her shoulders
7.
to increase or cause to increase gradually, as in force, speed, intensity, etc
8.
to contract (the brow) or (of the brow) to become contracted into wrinkles; knit
9.
(transitive) to assemble (sections of a book) in the correct sequence for binding
10.
(transitive) to collect by making a selection
11.
(transitive) to prepare or make ready: to gather one's wits
12.
to draw (material) into a series of small tucks or folds by passing a thread through it and then pulling it tight
13.
(intransitive) (of a boil or other sore) to come to a head; form pus
noun
14.
  1. the act of gathering
  2. the amount gathered
15.
a small fold in material, as made by a tightly pulled stitch; tuck
16.
(printing) an informal name for section (sense 17)
Derived Forms
gatherable, adjective
gatherer, noun
Word Origin
Old English gadrian; related to Old Frisian gaderia, Middle Low German gaderen
Word Origin and History for gathering
n.

"a meeting," mid-12c., from late Old English gaderung, verbal noun from gather.

gather

v.

Old English gadrian, gædrian "unite, agree, assemble; gather, collect, store up," used of flowers, thoughts, persons; from Proto-Germanic *gadurojan "bring together, unite" (cf. Old English gæd "fellowship, companionship," gædeling "companion;" Middle Low German gadderen; Old Frisian gaderia; Dutch gaderen "to gather," gade "spouse;" German Gatte "husband;" Gothic gadiliggs), from PIE *ghedh- "to unite, join" (see good (adj.). Change of spelling from -d- to -th- is 1500s, reflecting earlier change in pronunciation. Related: Gathered; gathering.

Idioms and Phrases with gathering

gather

see: rolling stone gathers no moss