acquire
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
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come into the possession of something concrete or abstract“They acquired a new pet”
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synonyms:
get
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types:
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isolate
obtain in pure form
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get back, win back
recover something or somebody that appeared to be lost
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express, extract, press out
obtain from a substance, as by mechanical action
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capture, catch
capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping
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come by, come into
obtain, especially accidentally
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buy, purchase
obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
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charter, engage, hire, lease, rent, take
engage for service under a term of contract
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have, receive
get something; come into possession of
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turn
get by buying and selling
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buy
acquire by trade or sacrifice or exchange
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find
obtain through effort or management
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glom
seize upon or latch onto something
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come upon, enter upon, luck into
take possession of
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come up, find, get hold, line up
get something or somebody for a specific purpose
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accept, have, take
receive willingly something given or offered
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obtain
come into possession of
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find, recover, regain, retrieve
get or find back; recover the use of
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catch
get or regain something necessary, usually quickly or briefly
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recoup, recover, recuperate
regain or make up for
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reclaim, repossess
claim back
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find, regain
come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost
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gain, win
win something through one's efforts
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bring in, clear, earn, gain, make, pull in, realise, realize, take in
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
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earn, garner
acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions
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benefit, gain, profit
derive a benefit from
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partake, partake in, share
have, give, or receive a share of
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preempt
acquire for oneself before others can do so
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preempt
gain possession of by prior right or opportunity, especially so as to obtain the right to buy (land)
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call for, collect, gather up, pick up
gather or collect
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inherit
obtain from someone after their death
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borrow
get temporarily
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pick up
get in addition, as an increase
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get
acquire as a result of some effort or action
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poll
get the votes of
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preisolate
isolate beforehand
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carry
secure the passage or adoption (of bills and motions)
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hunt, hunt down, run, track down
pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
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dig up, excavate, turn up
find by digging in the ground
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ream
squeeze the juice out (of a fruit) with a reamer
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frog
hunt frogs for food
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bag
capture or kill, as in hunting
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batfowl
catch birds by temporarily blinding them
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rat
catch rats, especially with dogs
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ensnare, entrap, snare, trammel, trap
catch in or as if in a trap
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take in, take up
accept
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extort, wring from
get or cause to become in a difficult or laborious manner
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kite
get credit or money by using a bad check
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hit, stumble
encounter by chance
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buy back, repurchase
buy what had previously been sold, lost, or given away
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take
buy, select
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get
purchase
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subscribe, subscribe to, take
receive or obtain regularly
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hustle
get by trying hard
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accept
receive (a report) officially, as from a committee
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fence
deal stolen goods
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accept, admit, take, take on
admit into a group or community
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welcome
accept gladly
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honor, honour
accept as pay
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source
get (a product) from another country or business
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procure, secure
get by special effort
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extract
get despite difficulties or obstacles
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take out
obtain by legal or official process
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get in, get into
secure a place in a college, university, etc.
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eke out, squeeze out
obtain with difficulty
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eke out, squeeze out
make by laborious and precarious means
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access
obtain or retrieve from a storage device; as of information on a computer
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graduate
receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies
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bum, cadge, grub, mooch, sponge
ask for and get free; be a parasite
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buy out, buy up, take over
take over ownership of; of corporations and companies
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distrain
legally take something in place of a debt payment
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foreclose
subject to foreclosing procedures; take away the right of mortgagors to redeem their mortgage
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profit, turn a profit
make a profit; gain money or materially
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cash in on
take advantage of or capitalize on
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profiteer
make an unreasonable profit, as on the sale of difficult to obtain goods
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capitalise, capitalize, take advantage
draw advantages from
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rake off
take money from an illegal transaction
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feel
find by testing or cautious exploration
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locate, turn up
discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining
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attain, chance on, chance upon, come across, come upon, discover, fall upon, happen upon, light upon, strike
find unexpectedly
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pick up
buy casually or spontaneously
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cozen
cheat or trick
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bring home, take home
earn as a salary or wage
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rake in, shovel in
earn large sums of money
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letter
win an athletic letter
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pyramid
enlarge one's holdings on an exchange on a continued rise by using paper profits as margin to buy additional amounts
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clear, net, sack, sack up
make as a net profit
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gross
earn before taxes, expenses, etc.
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bear, pay, yield
bring in
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derive, gain
obtain
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rout out, rout up
get or find by searching
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cut in
allow someone to have a share or profit
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inherit
receive by genetic transmission
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shop
do one's shopping
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buy food, take out
purchase prepared food to be eaten at home
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adopt, borrow, take over, take up
take up and practice as one's own
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snag
get by acting quickly and smartly
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impulse-buy
buy on impulse without proper reflection
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grab
obtain illegally or unscrupulously
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catch up with, make up
make up work that was missed due to absence at a later point
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gain knowledge or skills“Children acquire language at an amazing rate”
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types:
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relearn
learn something again, as after having forgotten or neglected it
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catch up
learn belatedly; find out about something after it happened
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absorb, assimilate, ingest, take in
take up mentally
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hit the books, study
learn by reading books
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imbibe
receive into the mind and retain
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con, learn, memorise, memorize
commit to memory; learn by heart
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bone, bone up, cram, drum, get up, grind away, mug up, swot, swot up
study intensively, as before an exam
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gain through experience“I acquired a strong aversion to television”
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develop, get, grow, produce
come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
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develop
elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme
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develop, explicate, formulate
elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses
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develop
generate gradually
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type of:
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change
undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
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develop, get, grow, produce
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win something through one's efforts
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take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect
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come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
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types:
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feather, fledge
grow feathers
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regrow
grow anew or continue growth after an injury or interruption
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spring
develop suddenly
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sprout, stock
put forth and grow sprouts or shoots
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stool, tiller
grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers
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leaf
produce leaves, of plants
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pod
produce pods, of plants
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teethe
grow teeth; cut the baby teeth
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pupate
develop into a pupa
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get up, work up
develop
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cut
have grow through the gums
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type of:
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change
undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
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locate (a moving entity) by means of a tracking system such as radar
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘acquire'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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Word Family
Vocabulary lists containing acquire
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer
When twelve-year-old Sophie Brown moves from a California city to a farm her dad has inherited, she is determined to learn how to raise the chickens she finds.
Operation Sisterhood
When eleven-year-old Tokunbo Marshall moves with her mother into a Harlem brownstone, she must adjust to an extended family that includes three new sisters who see everything in life as a possible project in their self-designed education.
Room to Dream
In this third book of the Front Desk series, seventh-grader Mia Tang and her parents return from a vacation to discover that they are in danger of losing the Calivista Motel.
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