English Synonyms and Antonyms

Get is a most comprehensive word. A person gets whatever he comes to possess or experience, whether with
or without endeavor, expectation, or desire; he gets a bargain, a blow, a fall, a fever; he gains what he comes
to by effort or striving; the swimmer gains the shore; a man acquires by continuous and ordinarily by slow
process; as, one acquires a foreign language. A person is sometimes said to gain and often to acquire what
has not been an object of direct endeavor; in the pursuits of trade, he incidentally gains some knowledge of
foreign countries; he acquires by association with others a correct or incorrect accent; he acquires a bronzed
complexion by exposure to a tropical sun; in such use, what he gains is viewed as desirable, what he acquires
as slowly and gradually resulting. A person earns what he gives an equivalent of labor for, tho he may not get
it. On the other hand, he may get what he has not earned; the temptation to all dishonesty is the desire to get a
living or a fortune without earning it. When one gets the object of his desire, he is said to obtain it, whether he
has gained or earned it or not. Win denotes contest, with a suggestion of chance or hazard; in popular
language, a person is often said to win a lawsuit, or to win in a suit at law, but in legal phrase he is said to gain
his suit, case, or cause. In receiving, one is strictly passive; he may get an estate by his own exertions or by
inheritance; in the latter case he is said to receive it. One obtains a thing commonly by some direct effort of
his own; he procures it commonly by the intervention of some one else; he procures a dinner or an interview;
he secures what has seemed uncertain or elusive, when he gets it firmly into his possession or under his
control. Compare synonyms for ATTAIN; MAKE; REACH.
Antonyms:
See synonyms for ABANDON.
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GIFT.
Synonyms:
benefaction, boon, bribe, grant, largess, bequest, bounty, donation, gratuity, present.
A gift is in the popular, and also in the legal sense that which is voluntarily bestowed without expectation of
return or compensation. Gift is now almost always used in the good sense, bribe always in the evil sense to
signify payment for a dishonorable service under the semblance of a gift. In Scriptural language gift is often
used for bribe. "The king by judgment establisheth the land; but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it." Prov.
xxix, 4. A benefaction is a charitable gift, generally of large amount, and viewed as of enduring value, as an
endowment for a college. A donation is something, perhaps of great, never of trivial value, given usually on
some public ground, as to a cause or to a person representing a cause, but not necessarily of value beyond the
immediate present; as, a donation to a pastor. A gratuity is usually something of moderate value and is always
given as to an inferior, and as of favor, not of right; as, a gratuity to a waiter. Largess is archaic for a bountiful
gratuity, usually to be distributed among many, as among the heralds at ancient tournaments. A present is a
gift of friendship, or conciliation, and given as to an equal or a superior; no one's pride is hurt by accepting
what is viewed as strictly a present. A boon is a gift that has been desired or craved or perhaps asked, or
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
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something freely given that meets some great desire. A grant is commonly considerable in amount and given
by public authority; as, a grant of public lands for a college.
Antonyms:
compensation, earnings, guerdon, penalty, remuneration, wages.
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GIVE.
Synonyms:
bestow, communicate, deliver, grant, supply. cede, confer, furnish, impart,
To give is primarily to transfer to another's possession or ownership without compensation; in its secondary
sense in popular use, it is to put into another's possession by any means and on any terms whatever; a buyer
may say "Give me the goods, and I will give you the money;" we speak of giving answers, information, etc.,
and often of giving what is not agreeable to the recipient, as blows, medicine, reproof; but when there is
nothing in the context to indicate the contrary, give is always understood in its primary sense; as, this book
was given me. Give thus becomes, like get, a term of such general import as to be a synonym for a wide
variety of words. To grant is to put into one's possession in some formal way, or by authoritative act; as,
Congress grants lands to a railroad corporation. To speak of granting a favor carries a claim or concession of
superiority on the part of the one by whom the grant may be made; to confer has a similar sense; as, to confer
a degree or an honor; we grant a request or petition, but do not confer it. To impart is to give of that which
one still, to a greater or less degree, retains; the teacher imparts instruction. To bestow is to give that of which
the receiver stands in especial need; we bestow alms.
Prepositions:
We give money to a person for a thing, for a purpose, etc. (or without proposition, give a person a sum of
money); we give a thing to or into one's care or keeping; the weary fugitive gave himself up to his pursuers.
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GOVERN.
Synonyms:
command, curb, influence, mold, reign over, rule, control, direct, manage, reign, restrain, sway.