acquire

/əˈkwaɪər/

/əˈkwaɪə/

Other forms: acquired; acquiring; acquires

To acquire means to get or come to own something. You acquire an education by your own effort. You acquire a painting by paying for it or by someone giving it to you. You acquire a sense of calm in crisis through experience.

The list of things you can acquire includes: an object, a trait, a skill, or an ability. An acquired taste is something that people usually don't like when they first experience it, but later they come to enjoy it, such as raw clams or marmite. The verb acquire was borrowed from Latin acquīrere "to add to," from the prefix ad- "at, toward" plus quaerere "to seek, get."

Definitions of acquire

1. verb

   come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
   “They acquired a new pet”

   synonyms: get

   find, get, incur, obtain, receive

   receive a specified treatment (abstract)

   types:

   isolate

   obtain in pure form

   get back, win back

   recover something or somebody that appeared to be lost

   express, extract, press out

   obtain from a substance, as by mechanical action

   capture, catch

   capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping

   come by, come into

   obtain, especially accidentally

   buy, purchase

   obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction

   charter, engage, hire, lease, rent, take

   engage for service under a term of contract

   have, receive

   get something; come into possession of

   turn

   get by buying and selling

   buy

   acquire by trade or sacrifice or exchange

   find

   obtain through effort or management

   glom

   seize upon or latch onto something

   come upon, enter upon, luck into

   take possession of

   come up, find, get hold, line up

   get something or somebody for a specific purpose

   accept, have, take

   receive willingly something given or offered

   obtain

   come into possession of

   find, recover, regain, retrieve

   get or find back; recover the use of

   catch

   get or regain something necessary, usually quickly or briefly

   recoup, recover, recuperate

   regain or make up for

   reclaim, repossess

   claim back

   find, regain

   come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost

   gain, win

   win something through one's efforts

   bring in, clear, earn, gain, make, pull in, realise, realize, take in

   earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages

   earn, garner

   acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions

   benefit, gain, profit

   derive a benefit from

   partake, partake in, share

   have, give, or receive a share of

   preempt

   acquire for oneself before others can do so

   preempt

   gain possession of by prior right or opportunity, especially so as to obtain the right to buy (land)

   call for, collect, gather up, pick up

   gather or collect

   inherit

   obtain from someone after their death

   borrow

   get temporarily

   pick up

   get in addition, as an increase

   get

   acquire as a result of some effort or action

   poll

   get the votes of

   preisolate

   isolate beforehand

   carry

   secure the passage or adoption (of bills and motions)

   hunt, hunt down, run, track down

   pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)

   dig up, excavate, turn up

   find by digging in the ground

   ream

   squeeze the juice out (of a fruit) with a reamer

   frog

   hunt frogs for food

   bag

   capture or kill, as in hunting

   batfowl

   catch birds by temporarily blinding them

   rat

   catch rats, especially with dogs

   ensnare, entrap, snare, trammel, trap

   catch in or as if in a trap

   take in, take up

   accept

   extort, wring from

   get or cause to become in a difficult or laborious manner

   kite

   get credit or money by using a bad check

   hit, stumble

   encounter by chance

   buy back, repurchase

   buy what had previously been sold, lost, or given away

   take

   buy, select

   get

   purchase

   subscribe, subscribe to, take

   receive or obtain regularly

   hustle

   get by trying hard

   accept

   receive (a report) officially, as from a committee

   fence

   deal stolen goods

   accept, admit, take, take on

   admit into a group or community

   welcome

   accept gladly

   honor, honour

   accept as pay

   source

   get (a product) from another country or business

   procure, secure

   get by special effort

   extract

   get despite difficulties or obstacles

   take out

   obtain by legal or official process

   get in, get into

   secure a place in a college, university, etc.

   eke out, squeeze out

   obtain with difficulty

   eke out, squeeze out

   make by laborious and precarious means

   access

   obtain or retrieve from a storage device; as of information on a computer

   graduate

   receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies

   bum, cadge, grub, mooch, sponge

   ask for and get free; be a parasite

   buy out, buy up, take over

   take over ownership of; of corporations and companies

   distrain

   legally take something in place of a debt payment

   foreclose

   subject to foreclosing procedures; take away the right of mortgagors to redeem their mortgage

   profit, turn a profit

   make a profit; gain money or materially

   cash in on

   take advantage of or capitalize on

   profiteer

   make an unreasonable profit, as on the sale of difficult to obtain goods

   capitalise, capitalize, take advantage

   draw advantages from

   rake off

   take money from an illegal transaction

   feel

   find by testing or cautious exploration

   locate, turn up

   discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining

   attain, chance on, chance upon, come across, come upon, discover, fall upon, happen upon, light upon, strike

   find unexpectedly

   pick up

   buy casually or spontaneously

   cozen

   cheat or trick

   bring home, take home

   earn as a salary or wage

   rake in, shovel in

   earn large sums of money

   letter

   win an athletic letter

   pyramid

   enlarge one's holdings on an exchange on a continued rise by using paper profits as margin to buy additional amounts

   clear, net, sack, sack up

   make as a net profit

   gross

   earn before taxes, expenses, etc.

   bear, pay, yield

   bring in

   derive, gain

   obtain

   rout out, rout up

   get or find by searching

   cut in

   allow someone to have a share or profit

   inherit

   receive by genetic transmission

   shop

   do one's shopping

   buy food, take out

   purchase prepared food to be eaten at home

   adopt, borrow, take over, take up

   take up and practice as one's own

   snag

   get by acting quickly and smartly

   impulse-buy

   buy on impulse without proper reflection

   grab

   obtain illegally or unscrupulously

   catch up with, make up

   make up work that was missed due to absence at a later point
2. verb

   gain knowledge or skills
   “Children acquire language at an amazing rate”

   synonyms: larn, learn

   types:

   relearn

   learn something again, as after having forgotten or neglected it

   catch up

   learn belatedly; find out about something after it happened

   absorb, assimilate, ingest, take in

   take up mentally

   hit the books, study

   learn by reading books

   imbibe

   receive into the mind and retain

   con, learn, memorise, memorize

   commit to memory; learn by heart

   bone, bone up, cram, drum, get up, grind away, mug up, swot, swot up

   study intensively, as before an exam
3. verb

   gain through experience
   “I acquired a strong aversion to television”

   synonyms: develop, evolve

   develop, get, grow, produce

   come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)

   develop

   elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme

   develop, explicate, formulate

   elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses

   develop

   generate gradually

   type of:

   change

   undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
4. verb

   win something through one's efforts
   “I acquired a passing knowledge of Chinese”

   synonyms: gain, win

   types:

   cozen

   cheat or trick

   type of:

   get

   come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
5. verb

   take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
   synonyms: adopt, assume, take, take on

   types:

   re-assume

   take on again, as after a time lapse

   type of:

   change

   undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
6. verb

   come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
   synonyms: develop, get, grow, produce

   develop, evolve

   gain through experience

   types:

   feather, fledge

   grow feathers

   regrow

   grow anew or continue growth after an injury or interruption

   spring

   develop suddenly

   sprout, stock

   put forth and grow sprouts or shoots

   stool, tiller

   grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers

   leaf

   produce leaves, of plants

   pod

   produce pods, of plants

   teethe

   grow teeth; cut the baby teeth

   pupate

   develop into a pupa

   get up, work up

   develop

   cut

   have grow through the gums

   type of:

   change

   undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
7. verb

   locate (a moving entity) by means of a tracking system such as radar
   type of:

   locate, situate

   determine or indicate the place, site, or limits of, as if by an instrument or by a survey