attain
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to arrive at or succeed in reaching or obtaining something (usually followed by to orunto ).
to attain to knowledge.
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to reach in the course of development or growth.
These trees attain to remarkable height.
verb
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(tr) to achieve or accomplish (a task, goal, aim, etc)
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(tr) to reach or arrive at in space or time
to attain old age
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to arrive (at) with effort or exertion
to attain to glory
Related Words
See gain 1.
Other Word Forms
- attainability noun
- attainable adjective
- attainer noun
- reattain verb (used with object)
- unattaining adjective
Etymology
Origin of attain
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English atei(g)nen, from Anglo-French, Old French ateign- (stem of ateindre ), from unattested Vulgar Latin attangere (for Latin attingere ), equivalent to Latin at- at- + tangere “to touch”
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.
But perspective is everything, and something difficult to attain when following daily, hourly, or even minute-by-minute movements.
From Barron's
At High Desert Test Sites, Zittel’s famous A-Z West escape pods are no longer used for camping after the city said the nonprofit would have to attain a commercial camping permit to continue.
From Los Angeles Times
They attained all their military objectives but were forced to withdraw by President Eisenhower of the United States.
From BBC
Last year, it attained a valuation of $2.96 billion and recently finished two years of digitizing maps and other documents from the state archives in neighboring Zambia, where it hit pay dirt.
Long-term, he says, Europe needs to think about how to better build energy stockpiles and reduce or reorganise energy consumption to attain more control over sudden supply changes, like we're seeing now.
From BBC
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.
