Verb

1. To collect; normally separate things.

   I've been gathering ideas from the people I work with.

   She bent down to gather the reluctant cat from beneath the chair.

   1. Especially, to harvest food.

      We went to gather some blackberries from the nearby lane.

   2. To accumulate over time, to amass little by little.

      Over the years he'd gathered a considerable collection of mugs.

   3. To congregate, or assemble.

      People gathered round as he began to tell his story.

2. To bring parts of a whole closer.

   She gathered the shawl about her as she stepped into the cold.

   1. To add pleats or folds to a piece of cloth, normally to reduce its width.

      A gown should be gathered around the top so that it will remain shaped.

   2. To bring stitches closer together.

      Be careful not to stretch or gather your knitting.

      If you want to emphasise the shape, it is possible to gather the waistline.

3. To infer or conclude; to know from a different source.

   From his silence, I gathered that things had not gone well.

   I gather from Aunty May that you had a good day at the match.

4. To be filled with pus

   Salt water can help boils to gather and then burst.

5. To collect molten glass on the end of a tool.

Noun

1. A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through it; a pucker.
2. The inclination forward of the axle journals to keep the wheels from working outward.
3. The soffit or under surface of the masonry required in gathering. See gather (transitive verb).
4. A piece of molten glass colected on the end of a blowpipe.