gift

¹ American

[gift] / gɪft /

noun

something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.

Synonyms:

dowry, inheritance, legacy, bequest, subsidy, allowance, premium, tip, gratuity, alms, largesse, boon, bounty, endowment, benefaction, offering, contribution, donation
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.

Synonyms:

knack, turn, genius, forte, bent, capability, aptitude, faculty

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.

GIFT ² American

[gift] / gɪft /

noun

gamete intrafallopian transfer: a laparoscopic process in which eggs are retrieved from an ovary by aspiration and inserted, along with sperm, into the fallopian tube of another woman.

gift ¹ British

/ ɡɪft /

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

GIFT ² British

/ ɡɪft /

acronym

gamete intrafallopian transfer: a technique, similar to in vitro fertilization, that enables some women who are unable to conceive to bear children. Egg cells are removed from the woman's ovary, mixed with sperm, and introduced into one of her Fallopian tubes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

gift Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing gift

look a gift horse in the mouth

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.

We didn’t accept the gift and had to pass on the property.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

“You have to keep coming back. So, I received the grace of being rejected, the grace of being despised, and the gift of saying: ‘Okay, now we’re going to start all over again.’”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

In a message on her Instagram page, Dion called her comeback "the best gift of my life".

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

A gift: from my lucky stars and Father Time.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

And it was time that gift served Deadwood once again.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023