acquire
Americanverb (used with object)
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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).
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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
List 4
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Frindle
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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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:
Understanding these developmental signals could provide new clues about how synovial fibroblasts acquire their functions and potentially reveal ways to restore their normal protective behavior in arthritis.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026
She cold-called business brokers and small firms, “scouring the earth trying to find something” to acquire and run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Instead of using the loan proceeds to acquire Project Exodus as promised, 4 13 Solutions used the $2.5 million to pay Wilson Holdings, apparently for money that Wilson Holdings had previously invested.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Earlier this year he spearheaded a consortium who attempted to acquire a controlling stake in his former club Sevilla but the bid failed.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Alt-A was just what they called crappy mortgage loans for which they hadn’t even bothered to acquire the proper documents—to verify the borrower’s income, say.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Goldman Sachs sees opportunity and acquires ETF company Neos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 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
And yet invisibility makes that power easier to expand because citizens stop feeling the intrusion even while the state acquires increasingly intimate access to ordinary life.
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
I say, therefore, that those dominions, upon being conquered and added to the long-established state of the one who acquires them, are either of the same region and language or they are not.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
For Lozano, acquired from San Diego on loan less than a month ago, the assist was his first with his new team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
He netted $2.2 million when Motorola acquired the body camera firm in 2019, according to his income tax return from that year.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
Central banks globally have substantial holdings of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities, much of that acquired as part of quantitative-easing programs.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
Studios which had been acquired by Xbox - including Compulsion Games, which made the Bafta-winning South of Midnight and Double Fine Productions, makers of Psychonauts - were also made independent again.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Indeed one can say that ‘hypothesis’ only really acquired its modern sense after the foundation of the Royal Society.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
But five first-round draft choices eliminated for the Clippers, a team that was already acquiring draft picks in an obvious rebuild!
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
California has spent billions acquiring advanced firefighting technology and recruiting professional firefighters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Dick’s Sporting Goods has faced challenges fixing Foot Locker since acquiring it last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Somewhere in the space between obvious joke and well, would you really be surprised?, a meme had begun acquiring the texture of consumer advice.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
As any Swanburne girl could tell you, a knack for pithiness is well worth acquiring.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
