<p><strong>Verb (used with object):</strong></p><ul><li>to bring together into one group, collection, or place: to gather firewood; to gather the troops.</li><li>Synonyms: hoard, garner, amass, accumulate.</li><li>Antonyms: disperse, separate.</li><li>to bring together or assemble from various places, sources, or people; collect gradually: The college is gathering a faculty from all over the country.</li><li>to serve as a center of attention for; attract: A good football game always gathers a crowd.</li><li>to pick or harvest (any crop or natural yield) from its place of growth or formation: to gather fruit; to gather flowers.</li><li>Synonyms: garner, glean, reap, crop, pluck.</li><li>to pick up piece by piece: Gather your toys from the floor.</li><li>to pick or scoop up: She gathered the crying child in her arms.</li><li>to collect (as taxes, dues, money owed, etc.).</li><li>to accumulate; increase: The storm gathers force. The car gathered speed.</li><li>to take by selection from among other things; sort out; cull.</li><li>to assemble or collect (one's energies or oneself) as for an effort (often followed by up): He gathered up his strength for the hard job.</li><li>to learn or conclude from observation; infer; deduce: I gather that he is the real leader.</li><li>Synonyms: understand, assume.</li><li>to wrap or draw around or close: He gathered his scarf around his neck.</li><li>to contract (the brow) into wrinkles.</li><li>to draw (cloth) up on a thread in fine folds or puckers by means of even stitches.</li><li>Bookbinding: to assemble (the printed sections of a book) in proper sequence for binding.</li><li>Nautical: to gain (way) from a dead stop or extremely slow speed.</li><li>Metallurgy: to increase the sectional area of (stock) by any of various operations.</li><li>Glassmaking: to accumulate or collect (molten glass) at the end of a tube for blowing, shaping, etc.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used without object):</strong></p><ul><li>to come together around a central point; assemble: Let's gather round the fire and sing.</li><li>Antonyms: disperse, separate.</li><li>to collect or accumulate: Clouds were gathering in the northeast.</li><li>Synonyms: accrete.</li><li>to grow, as by accretion; increase.</li><li>to become contracted into wrinkles, folds, creases, etc., as the brow or as cloth.</li><li>to come to a head, as a sore in suppurating.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>a drawing together; contraction.</li><li>Often gathers.</li><li>a fold or pucker, as in gathered cloth.</li><li>an act or instance of gathering.</li><li>an amount or number gathered, as during a harvest.</li><li>Glassmaking: a mass of molten glass attached to the end of a punty.</li></ul>