collect

[kuh-lekt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR collect ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to gather together; assemble: The professor collected the students' exams.

to accumulate; make a collection of: to collect stamps.

to receive or compel payment of: to collect a bill.

to regain control of (oneself or one's thoughts, faculties, composure, or the like): At the news of her promotion, she took a few minutes to collect herself.

to call for and take with one: He drove off to collect his guests. They collected their mail.

Manège. to bring (a horse) into a collected attitude.

Archaic. to infer.

verb (used without object)

to gather together; assemble: The students collected in the assembly hall.

to accumulate: Rain water collected in the barrel.

to receive payment (often followed by on): He collected on the damage to his house.

to gather or bring together books, stamps, coins, etc., usually as a hobby: He's been collecting for years.

Manège. (of a horse) to come into a collected attitude.

adjective, adverb

requiring payment by the recipient: a collect telephone call; a telegram sent collect.

Origin of collect

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin collēctus (past participle of colligere to collect), equivalent to col- col-¹ + leg- (stem of legere to gather) + -tus past participle suffix

Synonyms for collect

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR collect ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. amass, aggregate. 4. compose, calm.

Synonym study

1. See gather.

Antonyms for collect

1. broadcast. 2. distribute.

collect

[kol-ekt]

noun

any of certain brief prayers used in Western churches especially before the epistle in the communion service.

Origin of collect

1150–1200; Middle English collecte < Medieval Latin, short for ōrātiō ad collēctam prayer at collection (see collect¹)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for collect

amass, compile, gather, assemble, save, raise, solicit, secure, group, congress, cluster, muster, aggregate, rendezvous, converge, convene, convoke, stockpile, heap, corral

Examples from the Web for collect

Contemporary Examples of collect

Then the gift card is shopped online in a gray market to collect cold currency.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks
M.L. Nestel
December 19, 2014
How a car would be sent to collect him and he would be taken somewhere.
Victim: I Watched British MPs Rape and Murder Young Boys
Nico Hines
December 18, 2014
Divide the mixture evenly among the crème brûlée dishes, including any juices that collect.
The Barefoot Contessa Knows How To Make Us Crumble
Ina Garten
November 30, 2014
In order to break the spell and bear children, they must collect four items from the mysterious woods.
Anna Kendrick on Feminism, #GamerGate, and the Celebrity Hacking Attack
Marlow Stern
November 25, 2014
When I was young, I loved to dig and find and collect fossils.
The Real-Life Raiders of the Lost Ark
Alex Belth
November 14, 2014

Historical Examples of collect

It is a fortunate grocer who is able to collect 80 per cent.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
He closed them slowly for a moment, as if to collect his routed thoughts.
The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad
They give you a lot of trouble to collect, and nobody else will trouble to listen.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson
That part of one's environment upon which no government has been able to collect taxes.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
I beg you, sir, to collect your spirits, and to listen to me calmly.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for collect

collect

verb

to gather together or be gathered together

to accumulate (stamps, books, etc) as a hobby or for study

(tr) to call for or receive payment of (taxes, dues, etc)

(tr) to regain control of (oneself, one's emotions, etc) as after a shock or surprisehe collected his wits

(tr) to fetch; pick upcollect your own post; he collected the children after school

(intr sometimes foll by on) slang to receive large sums of money, as from an investmenthe really collected when the will was read

(tr) Australian and NZ informal to collide with; be hit by

collect on delivery the US term for cash on delivery

adverb, adjective

US (of telephone calls) on a reverse-charge basis

noun

Australian informal a winning bet

Word Origin for collect

C16: from Latin collēctus collected, from colligere to gather together, from com- together + legere to gather

collect

noun

Christianity a short Church prayer generally preceding the lesson or epistle in Communion and other services

Word Origin for collect

C13: from Medieval Latin collecta (from the phrase ōrātiō ad collēctam prayer at the (people's) assembly), from Latin colligere to collect 1

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

Word Origin and History for collect

early 15c. (transitive), from Old French collecter "to collect" (late 14c.), from Latin collectus, past participle of colligere "gather together," from com- "together" (see com-) + legere "to gather" (see lecture (n.)). The intransitive sense is attested from 1794. Related: Collected; collecting. As an adjective meaning "paid by the recipient" it is attested from 1893, originally with reference to telegrams.