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gift

[ gift ]

/ gɪft /

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See synonyms for gift on Thesaurus.com

noun

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)

to present with as a gift; bestow gifts upon; endow with.

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

OTHER WORDS FOR gift

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

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

See synonyms for gift on Thesaurus.com

VIDEO FOR GIFT

Do You Give Presents or Gifts?

It's that time of year again! Which will you be giving, gifts or presents? Speak without worry, because the giving of both presents and gifts are incredibly welcome this holiday season. ****Add yoast images.

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QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of gift

1125–75; Middle English <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 FROM gift

giftless, adjective

Words nearby gift

gier-eagle, Gierek, Gieseking, Giessen, GIF, gift, giftable, gift certificate, gifted, gift of gab, gift of tongues

Other definitions for gift (2 of 2)

GIFT

[ gift ]

/ gɪft /

noun

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. 2023

How to use gift in a sentence

A source familiar told me that before that trip Kushner purchased a Torah with his own money as a gift to Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.
Behind the scenes of the U.S.-brokered Israel-Bahrain agreement|Barak Ravid|September 11, 2020|Axios
A new and improved keyboard could make a great gift for those hard-working hands of yours.
Serious upgrades for your computer keyboard|PopSci Commerce Team|September 2, 2020|Popular-Science
If your friend or family member has to postpone, Forrest recommends scheduling a phone date with them, offering to help contact guests, and sending them a gift on their original wedding date to make them feel special.
How to update your guests about your pandemic wedding plans|Brooke Henderson|August 29, 2020|Fortune
She recommends still sending a wedding gift and a thoughtfully written card that explains why you’re RSVP’ing no.
How to turn down a wedding invitation during the coronavirus pandemic|Brooke Henderson|August 23, 2020|Fortune

Additionally, the pandemic has created financial challenges with millions unemployed, so gift giving might be even more stressful.
A guide to giving gifts for postponed and shrunken weddings|Brooke Henderson|August 20, 2020|Fortune
The kids had a gift for him too, a tee shirt with ‘Baseball Spoken Here’ stenciled across the front.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light|Mike Barnicle|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
While the chicken today might be the least exotic bird one can think of, it was once a gift that wowed kings.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A Christmas Carol revived and reinvented it around the gift of giving.
How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas|Clive Irving|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Moraca pointed to another form of return fraud, involving gift cards.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks|M.L. Nestel|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The living (value £250) is in the gift of trustees, and is now held by the Rev. M. Parker, Vicar.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
At the end of the first year, however, she resigned this privilege because she did not wish to accept the conditions of the gift.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
This gift of rice was especially pleasing to the traveller, as no dish is held in higher honour in Korea.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
It is certain that I then had a bad cough nearly always; and this I am sure was what decided the form of his parting gift to me.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
His methodical mind hated the idea of disorder; administration came to him as Nature's gift.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for gift (1 of 2)

gift

/ (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

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

verb (tr)

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

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

rare to endow with; bestow

Derived forms of gift

giftless, adjective

Word Origin for gift

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

British Dictionary definitions for gift (2 of 2)

GIFT

/ (ɡɪft) /

n acronym for

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.