gift

¹ American  

[gift] / gɪft /

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.

   Synonyms:

   dowry, inheritance, legacy, bequest, subsidy, allowance, premium, tip, gratuity, alms, largesse, boon, bounty, endowment, benefaction, offering, contribution, donation

2. the act of giving.

3. 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.

4. a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent.

   the gift of saying the right thing at the right time.

   Synonyms:

   knack, turn, genius, forte, bent, capability, aptitude, faculty

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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.

GIFT ² American  

[gift] / gɪft /

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.

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gift ¹ British  

/ ɡɪft /

noun

1. something given; a present

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

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

4. the act or process of giving

5. (usually negative) to find fault with a free gift or chance benefit

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verb

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

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

3. rare to endow with; bestow

GIFT ² British  

/ ɡɪft /

acronym

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

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gift Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing gift

• look a gift horse in the mouth

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Related Words

See present ².

Other Word Forms

• giftless adjective

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

Example Sentences

More typically, Epstein’s gifts to individual scientists totaled in the tens-of-thousands of dollars, making them a relative bargain among his investments.

From The Wall Street Journal

"We're here at least two or three nights every week, I use the lovely gift shop, we go out for meals, we drink in the pubs," she says.

From BBC

It occurred to him that it might be a proper gesture to bring along a gift.

From Literature

I wouldn’t tell her about Frederick and Bruno’s gift.

From Literature

Given that he gave away $5,000 of his wife’s life-insurance payout as gifts to his five children, we can assume that he received a substantial sum.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• allowance
• award
• benefit
• bonus
• contribution
• donation
• endowment
• favor
• giveaway
• grant
• legacy
• offering
• premium
• present
• relief
• reward
• souvenir
• subsidy
• tip
• tribute