gift

[ gift ]
See synonyms for gift on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.

  2. the act of giving.

  1. 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.

  2. a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent: the gift of saying the right thing at the right time.

verb (used with object)
  1. to present with as a gift; bestow gifts upon; endow with.

  2. to present (someone) with a gift: just the thing to gift the newlyweds.

Origin of gift

1
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old Norse gift; cognate with Old English gift (Middle English yift ) “marriage gift”; akin to give

synonym study For gift

1. See present2.

Other words for gift

Other words from gift

  • giftless, adjective

Words Nearby gift

Other definitions for GIFT (2 of 2)

GIFT
[ gift ]

noun
  1. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gift in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gift (1 of 2)

gift

/ (ɡɪft) /


noun
  1. something given; a present

  2. a special aptitude, ability, or power; talent

  1. the power or right to give or bestow (esp in the phrases in the gift of, in (someone's) gift)

  2. the act or process of giving

  3. look a gift-horse in the mouth (usually negative) to find fault with a free gift or chance benefit

verb(tr)
  1. to present (something) as a gift to (a person)

  2. (often foll by with) to present (someone) with a gift

  1. rare to endow with; bestow

Origin of gift

1
Old English gift payment for a wife, dowry; related to Old Norse gipt, Old High German gift, Gothic fragifts endowment, engagement; see give

Derived forms of gift

  • giftless, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for GIFT (2 of 2)

GIFT

/ (ɡɪft) /


n acronym for
  1. 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

Other Idioms and Phrases with gift

gift

In addition to the idiom beginning with gift

  • gift of gab

also see:

  • look a gift horse in the mouth

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.