attain

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“
What can I say but that I don't want to be a burden to any one That is a position which very few women can attain, that is, very few single women I think it would be well if all single women were strangled by the time they are thirty,' said Clara with a fierce energy which absolutely frightened her aunt Clara!

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Definitions (21)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To gain as an objective; achieve: attain a diploma by hard work.
  2. transitive verb To arrive at, as by virtue of persistence or the passage of time. See Synonyms at reach.
  3. intransitive verb To succeed in a directed effort, process, or progression: attained to high office; eventually attained to wisdom.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • You must attain, and maintain, a level of consistency, so you need to provide your staff the tools to know the customer wherever they encounter one. —  SB Informer Articles
  • So the more distribution points it can attain, the easier it will be to break even.
  • Many in this frame of mind privately consider themselves exemplars of an enlightened modern attitude that civilization has worked hard to attain, and if pushed, they would admit to feeling just a little superior to all those sorry souls of prior generations forced to bend under moral and religious constraints. —  Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog
  • Low voter turnout has been the keystone of Republican strategy for decades to attain, then keep, political power in the United States. —  chron.com Chronicle
  • An effective succession strategy is crucial to any organization seeking to attain -- and sustain -- high levels of business performance.
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This word has been looked up 172 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

attain:   attained ·  attaining ·  attains
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English atteignen, from Old French ataindre, ataign-, to reach to, from Vulgar Latin *attangere, from Latin attingere : ad-, ad- + tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English attainen, atteinen, atainen, ateinen, etc., from Old French ataindre, ateindre (ataign-, ateign-), French atteindre = Provencal ateigner, atenher = Italian attignere, attingere, attain, from Latin attingere, touch upon, attain, from ad, to, + tangere, touch: see tangent. Cf. attainder and attaint.
  2. from attain, v.
 

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/əˈteɪn/
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