gain

When something improves or increases, there is a gain. You can use this word as a noun or as a verb.

This is how you can use "gain" as a verb:

• You can gain a lot of knowledge by going to school.
• Jeremy gained some new friends when he joined the soccer club.
• Hilda feels like she’s gaining her strength back after a serious illness.
• The competition is gaining on us. We have to work harder this year.
• Your teacher has gained a lot of weight in the last couple of years. (This is a bad thing!)
• What have you gained from all of your hard work?

This is how you can use "gain" as a noun:

• There have been a lot of gains in the area of reading among the students. (gains = improved tests scores)
• Many gains have been made over the years by women in the workplace.
• Gains from their investments were impressive. (A "gain," in this case, could be an increase in value or an improvement in a situation.)
• Our gains outweighed our losses last year, so we made a profit.

He has gained a lot of strength from working out.

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This page was first published on June 10, 2012. It was updated on February 14, 2016.