acquire
Americanverb (used with object)
-
acquires,
present (3rd person singular)
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acquired,
past participle, past
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acquiring
present participle
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to come into possession or ownership of; get as one's own.
to acquire property.
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to gain for oneself through one's actions or efforts.
to acquire learning.
- Synonyms:
- appropriate, attain, earn, win
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Linguistics. to achieve native or nativelike command of (a language or a linguistic rule or element).
-
Military. to locate and track (a moving target) with a detector, as radar.
verb
Usage
What does acquire mean? Acquire most commonly means to get, buy, or learn. Acquire has a lot of meanings that vary with context. Most of them refer to the act of getting something permanently. It has more specific meanings in linguistics and in the context of the military. It’s easy to misspell acquire as aquire, so don’t forget the c. Example: When the merger is complete, our company will have acquired its largest competitor.
Synonym Usage
See get.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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acquirabilitynoun
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acquirementnoun
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acquirernoun
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preacquireverb
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reacquireverb (used with object)
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acquirableadjective
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self-acquiredadjective
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unacquirableadjective
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unacquiredadjective
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well-acquiredadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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acquiresimple
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acquiressimple
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have acquiredperfect
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has acquiredperfect
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am acquiringprogressive
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are acquiringprogressive
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is acquiringprogressive
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have been acquiringperfect progressive
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has been acquiringperfect progressive
Past
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acquiredsimple
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had acquiredperfect
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was acquiringprogressive
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were acquiringprogressive
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had been acquiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of acquire
First recorded in 1400–50; from Latin acquīrere “to add to one's possessions, acquire” ( ac- ac- + -quīrere, combining form of quaerere “to search for, obtain”); replacing late Middle English aquere, from Middle French aquerre, from Latin, as above
Explanation
To acquire means to get or come to own something. You acquire an education by your own effort. You acquire a painting by paying for it or by someone giving it to you. You acquire a sense of calm in crisis through experience. The list of things you can acquire includes: an object, a trait, a skill, or an ability. An acquired taste is something that people usually don't like when they first experience it, but later they come to enjoy it, such as raw clams or marmite. The verb acquire was borrowed from Latin acquīrere "to add to," from the prefix ad- "at, toward" plus quaerere "to seek, get."
Vocabulary lists containing acquire
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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.
See Examples For:
First, the ultimately failed bid to acquire major bits of Warner Bros.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Earlier this year Uber agreed to acquire Blacklane, a chauffeur service that operates in more than 500 cities across over 60 countries, for an undisclosed amount.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
ServiceNow rises after receiving new price target raises, announcing new AI advances, and saying it wouldn’t acquire a start-up.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Caruso said he brought up the Bay Theater over lunch last year with David Ellison, chief executive of Skydance, who was then working to acquire Paramount.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Those northern Maori tribes with the earliest access to Europeans thereby became the first tribes to acquire muskets, which gave them a big military advantage over all the other tribes lacking muskets.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Goldman Sachs sees opportunity and acquires ETF company Neos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
If Paramount Skydance acquires Warner Bros., production will likely shift to the Warner Bros. lot, with Paramount leased or sold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The research expands on decades of work exploring how the brain acquires new abilities.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The organization acquires medical debt in bulk from hospitals, physician groups, collection agencies and other groups for a fraction of the cost.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
I say, therefore, that in completely new principalities, where there is a new prince, greater or lesser difficulty in maintaining them exists according to the greater or lesser virtue of the person who acquires them.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Skubal, whom they acquired at the trade deadline to boost their chances at a World Series title, is set to hit free agency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
It would be Musk’s second major combination of his companies in as many years, after SpaceX acquired xAI in February.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
It has since acquired Jimmy John’s, Sonic Drive-In and Dunkin’, which also owned ice-cream chain Baskin-Robbins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
By Sunday afternoon, the rumor had acquired its supposed smoking gun.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026
The newspaper put its newly acquired statue in its front window, and hundreds of Parisians showed up to see it.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Mediawan has already established a foothold in Hollywood by acquiring companies such as Plan B, chaired by Brad Pitt, at the end of 2022, and The North Road Company in early 2026.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
It didn’t hurt that by acquiring him they prevented other postseason contenders, including the Milwaukee Brewers, from landing the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Starbucks has explored acquiring Chipotle, the Financial Times reported.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
An investment group is acquiring a luxury senior housing operator in a $1 billion deal, seeking to capitalize on the buying power of the aging baby boom generation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
“I wonder how one would go about acquiring industrial-strength blue dye,” she said, and then held a tree branch back for me.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
