- (transitive) to gain possession of; acquire; get
- (intransitive) to be customary, valid, or accepted: a new law obtains in this case
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ob•tain /əbˈteɪn/USA pronunciation
v.
ob•tain•ment, n. [uncountable]See -tain-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to come into possession of;
acquire:[~ + object]to obtain a driver's license. - to be common or customary, esp. so as to be in force or to exist in a particular place or time:[no object;usually: not be + ~ -ing]the morals that obtained in ancient Rome.
ob•tain•ment, n. [uncountable]See -tain-.
ob•tain
(əb tān′),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
ob•tain′a•ble, adj.
ob•tain′a•bil′i•ty, n.
ob•tain′er, n.
ob•tain′ment, n.
- to come into possession of;
get, acquire, or procure, as through an effort or by a request:to obtain permission; to obtain a better income. - [Obs.]to attain or reach.
v.i.
- to be prevalent, customary, or in vogue;
prevail:the morals that obtained in Rome. - [Archaic.]to succeed.
- Latin obtinēre to take hold of, equivalent. to ob- ob- + -tinēre (combining form of tenēre to hold)
- Middle French obtenir
- late Middle English obteinen 1375–1425
ob•tain′a•bil′i•ty, n.
ob•tain′er, n.
ob•tain′ment, n.
- 1. gain, achieve, earn, win, attain. See get.
- 1. lose, forgo.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
obtain /əbˈteɪn/ vb
'obtaining' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
binomial distribution
- cheat
- credit
- distillation
- go ahead
- heterotrophic
- hitchhike
- listening post
- Medea
- Nansen bottle
- necessary
- opportune
- Pandora
- perversion
- Philip IV
- polarography
- reconnaissance
- recovery
- sake
- science
- separate
- sex object
- sunlamp
- swab
- tap
- telestereoscope
- action line
- agent
- alien
- ambitious
- amniocentesis
- attain
- brain-picking
- buy
- civil rightist
- conversion
- cyclorama
- diamond drill
- Dictograph
- double-book
- entrée
- extortion
- financing
- forage
- Freedmen's Bureau
- frottage
- gain
- gelatin
- generalization
- get