gift
1 Americannoun
-
something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
-
the act of giving.
-
something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned.
Those extra points he got in the game were a total gift.
-
a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent.
the gift of saying the right thing at the right time.
verb (used with object)
-
to present with as a gift; bestow gifts upon; endow with.
-
to present (someone) with a gift.
just the thing to gift the newlyweds.
noun
noun
-
something given; a present
-
a special aptitude, ability, or power; talent
-
the power or right to give or bestow (esp in the phrases in the gift of, in ( someone's ) gift )
-
the act or process of giving
-
(usually negative) to find fault with a free gift or chance benefit
verb
-
to present (something) as a gift to (a person)
-
(often foll by with) to present (someone) with a gift
-
rare to endow with; bestow
acronym
Related Words
See present 2.
Other Word Forms
- giftless adjective
Etymology
Origin of gift
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old Norse gift; cognate with Old English gift ( Middle English yift ) “marriage gift”; akin to give
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was only when he pushed the note into my palm as he handed the bicycle to me that I realized this wasn’t a gift from him at all.
From Literature
The most profound pleasure of the week was time spent with the dozen other women who had given themselves the gift of a week’s immersion in beauty and creativity.
It felt very natural and it’s a gift to play family members with family.
From Los Angeles Times
It will include a 360 degree planetarium as well as a gift shop and small cafe.
From BBC
The lawsuit accuses Jackson of “insinuating himself” into the Cascio family by using “obsessive attention, lavish gifts, access to his celebrity lifestyle, and declarations that he loved and needed each of them.”
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
