earn
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to gain or get in return for one's labor or service.
to earn one's living.
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to merit as compensation, as for service; deserve.
to receive more than one has earned.
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to acquire through merit.
to earn a reputation for honesty.
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to gain as due return or profit.
Savings accounts earn interest.
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to bring about or cause deservedly.
His fair dealing earned our confidence.
verb (used without object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to gain or be paid (money or other payment) in return for work or service
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(tr) to acquire, merit, or deserve through behaviour or action
he has earned a name for duplicity
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(tr) (of securities, investments, etc) to gain (interest, return, profit, etc)
Related Words
See gain 1.
Other Word Forms
- earner noun
Etymology
Origin of earn1
First recorded before 900; Middle English ern(i)en Old English earnian; akin to Old High German arnēn “to earn, harvest”
Origin of earn2
First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of yearn
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.
