gift
- 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.
- to present with as a gift; bestow gifts upon; endow with.
- to present (someone) with a gift: just the thing to gift the newlyweds.
Origin of gift
Synonyms for gift
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
GIFT
- 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.
Related Words for gift
premium, offering, grant, bonus, relief, tip, benefit, award, souvenir, subsidy, favor, donation, legacy, contribution, reward, endowment, tribute, present, allowance, giveawayExamples from the Web for gift
Contemporary Examples of gift
The kids had a gift for him too, a tee shirt with ‘Baseball Spoken Here’ stenciled across the front.
While the chicken today might be the least exotic bird one can think of, it was once a gift that wowed kings.
A Christmas Carol revived and reinvented it around the gift of giving.
Both Prados have enough magic that, after you visit them, the whole world feels like their gift shop for a few hours.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left BehindBrin-Jonathan Butler
December 19, 2014
Then the gift card is shopped online in a gray market to collect cold currency.
Historical Examples of gift
If a chap's not born with the gift he's an ass to think he can acquire it.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
He can't acquire the gift, and no more can a chap acquire this gift.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Thank you, Robert; I will accept your gift with thanks on one condition.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Two puppies were carried in a basket, one of which the Princess accepted as a gift.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
Grace's face was alight with appreciation of Mrs. Gray's gift.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton CampusJessie Graham Flower
gift
- 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
- to present (something) as a gift to (a person)
- (often foll by with) to present (someone) with a gift
- rare to endow with; bestow
Word Origin for gift
GIFT
- 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
Word Origin and History for gift
mid-13c. (c.1100 in surnames), from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse gift, gipt "gift, good luck," from Proto-Germanic *giftiz (cf. Old Saxon gift, Old Frisian jefte, Middle Dutch ghifte "gift," German Mitgift "dowry"), from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive" (see habit).
For German Gift "poison," see poison (n.). Old English cognate gift meant "bride-price, marriage gift (by the groom), dowry" (Old English noun for "giving, gift" was related giefu). Sense of "natural talent" is c.1300, perhaps from earlier sense of "inspiration" (late 12c.). As a verb from 16c., especially in gifted. As a verb, giftwrap (also gift-wrap) attested by 1936.
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