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Gained vs Retained - What's the difference?

gained | retained |

As verbs the difference between gained and retained

is that gained is (gain) while retained is (retain).

gained

English

Verb

(head)
  • (gain)

    • Anagrams

    *

    gain

    English

    Etymology 1

    From dialectal English (m), (m), short for (m), . More at (l).

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (obsolete) Against.
    • Derived terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), (m), , from the adjective.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Straight, direct; near; short.
    • the gainest way
  • (obsolete) Suitable; convenient; ready.
  • (dialectal) Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
  • (dialectal) Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
    • Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
  • (dialectal) Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
  • (dialectal) Tolerably; fairly.
    • gain quiet (= fairly/pretty quiet)

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), . The Middle English word was reinforced by (etyl) . Related to (l), (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of gaining.
  • * Tennyson
    • the lust of gain
  • What one gains, as a return on investment or dividend.
    • No pain, no gain .
  • * Shakespeare
    • Everyone shall share in the gains .
  • (electronics) The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
    • Antonyms
    * loss
    Derived terms
    * autogain * gainful * gainsome

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To acquire possession of what one did not have before.
    • Looks like you've gained a new friend.
  • * Bible, Matthew xvi. 26
    • What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
  • * Alexander Pope
    • For fame with toil we gain , but lose with ease.
  • To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
    • The sick man gains daily.
  • * Bible, Ezekiel xxii. 12
    • Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.
  • (dated) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
    • to gain''' a battle; to '''gain a case at law
  • To increase.
  • * 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
    • Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
  • To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.
    • I'm gaining (on you).
    gain ground
  • To reach.
    • to gain the top of a mountain
  • * 1907 , Jack London, The Iron Heel :
    • Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.
  • To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate.
  • * Bible, Matthew xviii. 15
    • If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
  • * Dryden
    • to gratify the queen, and gain the court
  • To put on weight.
    • I've been gaining .
  • (of a clock or watch) To run fast.

    • Etymology 4

    Compare (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (architecture) A square or bevelled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.

    • Anagrams

    * (l) * (l) * (l), (l) ----

    retained

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • (retain)

    • Anagrams

    *

    retain

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To keep in possession or use.
  • * Milton
    • Be obedient, and retain / Unalterably firm his love entire.
  • * 1856 : (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
    • A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of all efforts to retain it. Yet every night he dreamt of her; it was always the same dream. He drew near her, but when he was about to clasp her she fell into decay in his arms.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
  • To keep in one's pay or service.
  • * Addison
    • A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defence.
  • To employ by paying a retainer.
  • To hold secure.
  • (obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.
  • (obsolete) To belong; to pertain.
  • * Boyle
    • A somewhat languid relish, retaining to bitterness.

    Synonyms

    * keep

    Related terms

    * retainer, retention

    Anagrams

    * *