gift
noun
something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
gift
1 American
[gift]
/ gɪft /
noun
-
gifts
plural
-
something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
-
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.
verb (used with object)
-
gifts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gifted,
past participle, past
-
gifting
present participle
-
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
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
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
GIFT
2
British
/ ɡɪft /
acronym
gift
Idioms
Synonym Usage
See present 2.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
giftsimple
-
giftssimple
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have giftedperfect
-
has giftedperfect
-
am giftingprogressive
-
are giftingprogressive
-
is giftingprogressive
-
have been giftingperfect progressive
-
has been giftingperfect progressive
Past
-
giftedsimple
-
had giftedperfect
-
was giftingprogressive
-
were giftingprogressive
-
had been giftingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
A gift is an item that's given without any expectation of payment — it's a present. A gift may be the present you receive on your birthday or it may be a natural gift or talent you possess — like your gift for reading lips. People give gifts to mark special occasions, like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries. and some holidays. Sometimes tourists buy gifts while on vacation and bring them home to their friends and family. Another kind of gift is a special ability: "She has such a gift for learning languages." The root of gift is probably the Old Norse gipt or gift, which means both "gift" and "good luck."
Vocabulary lists containing gift
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:
“And I was blessed with the gift of … developing a genuine, sincere friendship with Kyle that exists outside of the context of work.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Forbes’ top editor was fired over one hell of a gift.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
Same gift, same charities but $15,000 less income she is taxed on.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
The joke here, as John Tamny writes in Forbes, is that data centers are already “the tax gift that keeps on giving.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
As I stand two feet from the old man’s shotgun, I’m learning what the boy already knew: For the rest of her life, that little white girl would be the recipient of a priceless gift.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
PGA GIFT: All the past PGA champions at Quail Hollow might have stars in their eyes.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 8, 2017
Asch was trying to find a simpler way to do IVF, one that would not require the skills of an embryologist, when he hit upon the procedure he called gamete intra-Fallopian transfer, or GIFT.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Los Angeles couple went through a five-year effort that included hormone treatment, artificial insemination, an ectopic pregnancy, sperm washing and finally GIFT.
From Time Magazine Archive
In GIFT, by contrast, the embryo drifts quietly into the uterus, much as it would naturally.
From Time Magazine Archive
PARENTS' CHRISTMAS-BOX and NEW-YEAR's GIFT; containing the various Predictions of the Prophets respecting Jesus Christ. 1s.
From Jemima Placid or, The Advantage of Good-Nature by Mary Ann (n?e Maze) Kilner
‘Yes, his contributions to entertainment will be long remembered and enjoyed, but his gifts to children will likely have no end,’ writes an L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
If you’re 70½ or older, use both: the QCD for annual gifts that offset your RMD, the fund for the multiyear block.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Farage announced his surprise resignation on July 7 amid a parliamentary probe into allegations he and Reform's deputy, Richard Tice, failed to declare financial gifts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The system encourages him to sleep in on Mondays and travel less on weekdays, and helps him organize his calendar and pick out gifts for friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“I want Dad to show me how to use the gifts he got me.”
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
“He’s very, very gifted on a granular level as an actor.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
She described a Concord hotel as serving “Walden water, aesthetic tea” and “Orphic acorns by the peck,” and offering telescopes for “the gifted eyes which desire to watch the songs of the oversoul.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Sebastian gifted the painting to his father, Alexander Fernandez.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
"The instruments had massive sentimental value to me. They were both gifted to me by my dad who passed away this week last year," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
It’s odd to hear; most of the Folk are musically gifted, but I like her tune better for being imperfect.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Warren Buffett did not donate to the Gates Foundation this year, ending a two-decade run of gifting Berkshire Hathaway shares to the philanthropy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
My wife and I might invest the proceeds, start gifting to family or buy a vacation home.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
While individuals who are at least age 70 ½ can gift using QCDs, the gifting tools are typically used starting at age 73 to manage the tax consequences of mandatory withdrawals from IRAs.
From Barron's ● May 9, 2026
WLF responded by naming Sun a corporate advisor and gifting him an additional billion tokens, then valued at $15 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
He flips it on and reaches one arm across the back of the couch, gifting us with an unpleasant whiff of his armpits.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
