gather

Universal Words verb come / bring together 1 to come together, or bring people together, in one place to form a group: [V] A crowd soon gathered. * Can you all gather round? I've got something to tell you. * The whole family gathered together at Ray's home. * His supporters gathered in the main square. * [VN] They were all gathered round the TV. * A large crowd was gathered outside the studio. * The kids were gathered together in one room. 2 [VN] ~ sth (together / up) to bring things together that have been spread around: People slowly gathered their belongings and left the hall. * I waited while he gathered up his papers. collect 3 [VN] to collect information from different sources: Detectives have spent months gathering evidence. 4 [VN] to collect plants, fruit, etc. from a wide area: to gather wild flowers crops / harvest 5 [VN] ~ sth (in) to pick or cut and collect crops to be stored: It was late August and the harvest had been safely gathered in. believe / understand 6 (not used in the progressive tenses) to believe or understand that sth is true because of information or evidence you have: [V(that)] I gather (that) you wanted to see me. * I gather from your letter that you're not enjoying your job. * [VN] 'There's been a delay.' 'I gathered that.' * [V] 'She won't be coming.' 'So I gather.' * You're self-employed, I gather. * As far as I can gather, he got involved in a fight. * From what I can gather, there's been some kind of problem. increase 7 [VN] to increase in speed, force, etc: The truck gathered speed. * During the 1980s the green movement gathered momentum. * Thousands of these machines are gathering dust (= not being used) in stockrooms. of clouds / darkness 8 [V] to gradually increase in number or amount: The storm clouds were gathering. * the gathering gloom of a winter's afternoon clothing 9 [VN] ~ sth around you / sth