obtain
/əbˈteɪn
/verb
1 [with object] Get, acquire, or secure (something): adequate insurance cover is difficult to obtain...
- A new strain was one that had not been isolated from sputum samples previously obtained from an individual patient.
- The results obtained by the 2 methods of specimen handling and DNA extraction were indistinguishable.
- The parameter estimates were obtained using simulated maximum likelihood with Halton sequences as described by Train.
Synonyms
get, acquire, come by, secure, procure, come into possession of, pick up, be given;
gain, derive, earn, achieve, attain, win, draw, reap;
buy, purchase
informal get/lay hold of, get/lay one's hands on, get one's mitts on, grab, bag, land, net
British informal blag
South African informal schlenter
2 [no object] formal Be prevalent, customary, or established: the price of silver fell to that obtaining elsewhere in the ancient world...
- But how does all this fit with what obtains here at home?
- Or are we to go semi-professional like obtains on the domestic soccer front in Ireland, with such little attraction for fans.
- I should note that Welborn Rule obtains here: all posts to me are subject to possible posting, so be forewarned!
Synonyms
prevail, be in force, apply, exist, be in use, be established, be customary, be effective, be prevalent, stand, hold, be the case
Derivatives
obtainer
- Then why, in Scheidler, did the court hold that a destroyer is not an ‘obtainer’?
- This place was the home of one great obtainer of any goods needed.
obtainment
- The new millennium is the time for mankind's movement and the obtainment of spiritual perfection and a liberated existence, she said.
- Children of a certain race or ethnicity are also allegedly discriminated against in the obtainment of a birth certificate.
- The reproducibility of exposures and breath sampling across the test population is critical for the obtainment of comparable data.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French obtenir, from Latin obtinere 'obtain, gain'.