gift
(gɪft )
Word forms: gifts
1. countable noun A2
A gift is something that you give someone as a present.
...a gift of $50.00.
They believed the unborn child was a gift from God.
...gift shops.
Synonyms: donation, offering, present, contribution
2. countable noun
If someone has a gift for doing something, they have a natural ability for doing it.
As a youth he discovered a gift for teaching. [+ for]
She had the gift of making people happy. [+ of]
Synonyms: talent, ability, capacity, genius
3. God's gift phrase [verb-link PHRASE]
If a person thinks they are God's gift to someone or something, they think they are perfect or extremely good. [informal]
Image of gift
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Idioms:
God's gift
exactly what a particular group of people like or need
I can't stand him - he thinks he's God's gift to women.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
look a gift horse in the mouth
to find faults or difficulties when someone offers you a gift or opportunity
When you're an entrepreneur, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
the gift of the gab or the gift of gab
the ability to speak confidently, clearly and in a persuasive way
He was entertaining company and certainly had the gift of the gab.
Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Collocations:
expensive gift generous gift gift guide gift list gift of grace gift registry gift shop gift shopping gift store gift tags gift wrapping graduation gift handmade gift ideal gift innate gift last-minute gift lavish gift natural gift nice gift parting gift perfect gift possess a gift precious gift priceless gift rare gift receive a gift remarkable gift special gift spiritual gift thoughtful gift ultimate gift unexpected gift unique gift unwanted gift valuable gift wedding gift welcome gift wonderful gift wrap a gift
And love isn't all about being showered with expensive gifts.
The Sun (2011)
It also saves a fortune on expensive gifts.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He showers me with expensive gifts but the downside is he works away for months at a time.
The Sun (2015)
It was an extremely generous gift.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
His generous gift of £50,000 will mean lives can be saved.
The Sun (2010)
I sure wouldn't want to feel compromised by your generous gift.
Christianity Today (2000)
In our special fourpage gift guide, we have the lowdown on all the best games, gadgets and gizmos on the market.
The Sun
There's a great last-minute gift guide to suit all budgets.
The Sun
We have a great gift guide full of ideas that won't break the bank.
The Sun
If you're stuck for ideas, do not miss our 10-page gift guide starting on p31.
The Sun
Yes, it's bigger, and comes with a gigantic gift guide, but there's also a little twist!
The Sun
That's two registrars, hotels, caterers, limo drivers, photographers, and gift list retailers who would have lost out on a client each.
Times, Sunday Times
Probably because nobody took the time to develop a musical talent/gift list and then use it.
Christianity Today
None of us wants to appear cheap by giving the couple the smallest item on their gift list, but nobody wants to overspend.
Times, Sunday Times
I've been to many weddings, and feel it's my turn for an unnecessary gift list and people traipsing across the country for 'my' day.
Times, Sunday Times
The gratuity gift list can end up costing thousands of dollars.
Times, Sunday Times
In a sense, medicine gives a wonderful gift to the culture as a whole--a gift of grace.
Christianity Today
Why do we need a gift of grace?
Christianity Today
Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.
Christianity Today
For these people, a regimen of healthy food, regular exercise, and accountability with a group or instructor would be a gift of grace.
Christianity Today
He can be found among the crushed who bow before him in confession and grasp for his gift of grace.
Christianity Today
The couple with the highest dollar amount in uncovered cards wins a $10,000 gift registry.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
This enables typical social website functions, including being notified on friends' activity, and read-access to friends portfolios, watchlists and gift registries.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Gift registries can be set up for special events, and donors can give any project as a gift.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The site offers many ways to givedirect donations, charity gift cards, charity gift registries, wedding registries, gift collections, and memorial donationsfor every purpose and occasion.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Some wish lists are specialized for particular purposes or concentrated at individual retailers, such as gift registries (e.g., bridal registries).
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
In time, he was encased like a scorpion inside a cheap gift shop acrylic resin paperweight.
INCA GOLD (1994)
I want a tour round an ancient castle, followed by a browse in a gift shop.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I had seen a print in a Crouch Hill gift shop window of the pre-industrial view.
THREE KINDS OF KISSING - SCOTTISH SHORT STORIES (2002)
They left Lee's and tried the expensive gift shop that sold Waterford Crystal, where they'd agreed to meet Stella.
JUST BETWEEN US (2002)
Anchor Bottle is a secret hideaway above a pretty gift shop on a narrow lane near the quay.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
If you've held your nerve to leave your gift shopping to the last minute, you will benefit from huge discounts.
The Sun
If you're still looking, last-minute gift shopping brings you face to face with someone you've admired from a distance.
The Sun
And a surprise meeting during last-minute gift shopping can be the start of a rich romance.
The Sun
Walking around the convention floor, there are endless queues for everything from nachos to the gift store.
Times, Sunday Times
Luck says your name in a gift store.
The Sun
You could meet someone special when you walk into a gift store.
The Sun
When you see a pal from the past in a gift store, you will both get lucky.
The Sun
They run an online gift store.
The Sun
Plus you get bows, ribbon, string and gift tags.
The Sun
You can cut up old cards to use as gift tags.
The Sun
It included 31 plastic bags, 49 cellophane wrappers, 3ft of bubble wrap, 35 strands of gift ribbon and 19 gift tags.
The Sun
It's fun and saves on gift tags.
The Sun
Some may specifically forbid the sale of commercial greetings cards and gift tags that may be made with their kits.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Only 26.99 (with free delivery, personal greeting and gift wrapping).
Times, Sunday Times
One earlier in the week had been for gift wrapping and greetings cards; another for saucepans.
Times, Sunday Times
Glue on a small motif cut from another doily or a picture cut from some gift wrapping paper and stick on one flap of the card.
Times, Sunday Times
More unusual has to be the gift wrapping rooms - all three of them.
Times, Sunday Times
For instance, mystery shoppers at a restaurant may pretend they are lactose-intolerant, or a clothing store mystery shopper could inquire about gift wrapping services.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
As a graduation gift, he requested a printing press of his father.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The band offers her a song as a graduation gift.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Students with their parents who want graduation gifts.
Globe and Mail
For the person that has everything, a simple handmade gift will be genuinely cherished, even if it's not brilliant.
Times, Sunday Times
A handmade gift reveals a talent that could be profitable.
The Sun
And the handmade gift has celebrity endorsement.
Times, Sunday Times
Realistic gifts for you may be simple, handmade gifts from your kitchen.
Christianity Today
Recreating shared journeys, getting outside together and handmade gifts or food can invigorate family life.
The Sun
It will be the ideal gift for someone you don't like very much.
Times, Sunday Times
An ideal gift for the retired skinhead in the family.
Times, Sunday Times
It's the perfect opportunity to lose yourself in designer clothing and prepare for the party season or find that ideal gift.
Times, Sunday Times
Balloons are the ideal gift for reminding chancellors about their responsibilities: too much inflation, and the whole thing goes bang.
Times, Sunday Times
They're an ideal gift for others or just a treat for yourself.
The Sun
You'd think poetic genius would be an innate gift, the result of spontaneous inspiration.
Times,Sunday Times
Sorcerers are distinguished from wizards as having an innate gift with magic, as well as possessing blood of a mystical or magical origin.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Inspirational/spiritual modern allegories attempt to inspire the viewer to believe in their own abilities and trust their innate gifts.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Like his patrons, whom he immortalizes in verse, he owes his success to hard work as well as to innate gifts; though he hires himself out, he has a vocation.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Stuck for that last-minute gift?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Shopping time is running out but fear not - here is my round-up of the best last-minute bargain gifts.
The Sun (2011)
It's the perfect time to pick up last-minute gifts for the fashionable men in your life.
The Sun (2011)
Time and thoughtfulness often mean more than any lavish gift.
The Sun (2011)
The wealthier fans of the national team showered team players with lavish gifts of appreciation.
Going For It!: How to Succeed As an Entrepreneur (1986)
Not only is it undermining to parents, it also means the grandchildren may expect constant lavish gifts.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He had a lot of natural gifts: confidence, aura and physical strength.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Discovering you have a natural gift for both learning and then training others gives you some interesting job options.
The Sun (2016)
In the second half of the year you may discover you have a natural gift for writing song lyrics.
The Sun (2012)
Anyway, nice gift - and more original than a casserole dish.
Times, Sunday Times
We want to give our supporters a nice gift.
Times, Sunday Times
They were due to visit in a month's time; it would make a nice gift.
Times, Sunday Times
This fine writing instrument makes a nice gift.
Times, Sunday Times
Whenever you see nice gifts for your friends and family in sales buy them and stash them.
The Sun
It was a really nice parting gift.
The Sun (2008)
My thoughts had been much occupied over these last days with the problem of what to give my special friends as a parting gift.
THE LAST OF THE GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS: Coming of Age in the Arctic (2004)
That turned out to be his parting gift to his boyhood club as he heads for the Theatre of Dreams in great shape.
The Sun (2011)
It is the perfect gift for any age, or simply as a treat for yourself.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
So getting him the perfect gift was always going to be tough.
The Sun (2015)
Such bulbs make the perfect gift - for which you will certainly be remembered when they flower next year.
The Sun (2009)
They do, however, seem to possess the gift of sixth sense.
The Sun
As reason for the marriage, he wrote into the wedding book that he did not possess the gift of chastity.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Nobody who wrote about sport for a living possessed his gift of being both reporter and poet.
Times, Sunday Times
They also possess the gift of tongues.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
He possesses a gift for writing unforgettable melodies and orchestral works, and lives a parallel career as an acclaimed conductor of opera and orchestral music.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Use that precious gift of unexpected time together to add the freshness of variety to your loving.
The Sun
It's the most precious gift in the world, and also the most vulnerable.
Times, Sunday Times
She even, in one pigeon-toed moment, develops the precious gift of 'comedy legs'.
Times, Sunday Times
He's dived from cliff tops, scaled tall buildings and skied down mountains to deliver his precious gift.
Times, Sunday Times
To a couple who had spent years trying for a family, we were a precious gift.
Times, Sunday Times
The old-stager had given his manager one priceless gift before he departed.
Times, Sunday Times
The transfer of control to the patient also provides the priceless gift of independence.
Times, Sunday Times
This gives you the priceless gift of peace of mind, knowing your pictures will be safe and kept private by encryption and file-compression software.
Times, Sunday Times
As one minister said of him, he had the priceless gift of knowing his limitations, and had no qualms about listening to those who could guide him on challenging issues.
Times, Sunday Times
The 25-year-old has the priceless gift of making the right move with his first step.
Times, Sunday Times
She has a rare gift for making us take the ordinary seriously.
Christianity Today
He had that rare gift of making the grubby seem glamorous.
Times, Sunday Times
They have that rare gift of remaining objective while still caring for us deeply.
Times, Sunday Times
It turns out that he loved people of every hue and had a rare gift for engaging with total strangers.
Times, Sunday Times
She has that rare gift of making the unbelievable seem real.
Times, Sunday Times
For those of us who have received the gift of leadership from the people we lead, this belief has enormous implications.
Christianity Today (2000)
The person receiving the gift must get the full benefit.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Too, he had a remarkable gift for adjusting his principles to the possibilities of the moment without actually losing them.
Christianity Today
It's a remarkable gift from a hugely generous benefactor and a great vote of confidence in what we do here.
Times, Sunday Times
They have been blessed, it seems, with a remarkable gift for clairvoyance.
Times, Sunday Times
Its remarkable gift for re-creating itself has long been its most crucial economic talent.
Times, Sunday Times
His columns were noted for their fresh, inventive phraseology, and his remarkable gift for phrase and observation and jaunty, ornate prose.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
And you share a special gift that makes you both richer.
The Sun
You have a special gift for building up other people's confidence that helps them pursue their own dreams.
The Sun
He has a special gift of making people believe in him and hates it when he messes up.
Times, Sunday Times
You have a special gift for helping people get along with each other so even an event you have mixed feelings about goes well.
The Sun
Well, here's a really special gift, and at $250,000 it's a real steal.
Christianity Today
Why not also identify and equip those who have the spiritual gift of giving?
Christianity Today
I looked at the results of the spiritual gift inventory and gulped.
Christianity Today
Suddenly pastors are talking about communication in the pastorate and leadership as a spiritual gift.
Christianity Today
We've found that one's secular expertise may not coincide with one's spiritual gift.
Christianity Today
Thus, it should come as no surprise that we may frequently experience uncertainty and have need of a spiritual gift of discernment to guide us.
Christianity Today
There was no question that we would embrace this thoughtful gift with gratitude and gladness.
Christianity Today
Job done - a thoughtful gift without even having to get your purse out or your oven gloves on.
The Sun
You can even put together a selection of shaving products in a wash bag for a really thoughtful gift.
The Sun
Whether from a list or from studying their interests, a thoughtful gift shows the recipient that we care for them and want them to feel loved.
Christianity Today
The system turned a thoughtful gift into more of a nightmare.
Times, Sunday Times
In the afterlife we are granted the ultimate gift of revelation: an opportunity to view the underlying code.
Times, Sunday Times
There's no doubt about the ultimate gift.
The Sun
Using his patronage to bestow the ultimate gifts on his chosen few.
The Sun
But he has an even greater unexpected gift for conveying landscape and atmosphere.
Times, Sunday Times
Hypersensitivity to pain can be a resource, an unexpected gift.
Christianity Today
But it's an extra unexpected gift that reveals how deep love feelings go.
The Sun
An unexpected gift was the light that was shone into the eyes of the driver, which, on a sunlit day, are hidden in shadow behind the visor.
Times, Sunday Times
This remark prompted a friend to make me an unexpected gift of the book.
The Times Literary Supplement
They've begun seeking leaders based on their unique gifts.
Christianity Today (2000)
If you want to get the very best from your employees, you will sometimes need to make adjustments that acknowledge and honor their unique gifts and personalities.
Christianity Today (2000)
Indeed, veterans with PTSD will often bring unique gifts that are borne in the context of struggle.
Christianity Today (2000)
You could also swap your unwanted gifts.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
To get a refund on an unwanted gift, you need a receipt as proof of purchase.
The Sun (2014)
I now have drawers full of unwanted gifts which are of no use to me.
The Sun (2014)
Given the wasteland that represents many young people's pensions, this could be a valuable gift.
Times, Sunday Times
Taking a break with someone at any time of year gives them your most valuable gift - time.
The Sun
You have a valuable gift for putting people together, from managing a sports team to turning a group of friends who sing for fun into proper professionals.
The Sun
He had given her a valuable gift once as a token of favor, but she played hard-to-get and was angry with him.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
They indulge in a physical relationship that night, which she considers the most valuable gift that she can have from him.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
I learnt later that 10% did not give a wedding gift or even a card.
Times, Sunday Times
He gives her a cabinet house as a wedding gift, but here, we presume, the imaginary world takes flight.
Times, Sunday Times
Now there's an idea for a wedding gift...
The Sun
No silly wedding gift lists to follow, no dreary speeches to sit through and no weekends that aren't your own.
Times,Sunday Times
If you receive a positive response and a visit then you would be much happier about a wedding gift.
Times, Sunday Times
The details contained in these documents could be a welcome gift for an opportunistic fraudster.
Times, Sunday Times
All breaks include three nights accommodation, return cross channel travel for you and your car and a welcome gift from your hotel.
Times, Sunday Times
It's also terribly polite, featuring tactful suggestions about exchange etiquette - such as leaving a welcome gift so your guests feel instantly at home.
Times, Sunday Times
Seven-night packages are from 582 including a welcome gift, four wellness treatments and free entrance to the sauna and gym.
The Sun
A welcome gift of a festive album.
The Sun
At first, such a wealth of information may seem a wonderful gift and advantage.
Times, Sunday Times
Or snap them up for a wonderful gift.
The Sun
I'd never have bought myself something like that so it felt like such a wonderful gift when it arrived.
The Sun
The celebration included my favorite music, their special food, and a wonderful gift that was acquired not in anonymous haste, but with deliberate care.
Christianity Today
You always felt she was dancing just for you — it's a wonderful gift to have.
Times, Sunday Times
He further humoured me by asking me to help wrap the gift.
Globe and Mail
To make life that bit easier, they'll even wrap your gifts for you - amazing!
The Sun
Wrapping a gift was a way of protecting it from grease and soot.
Times, Sunday Times
Translations:
Chinese: 礼物
Japanese: 贈り物