gain

A profit on a securities transaction recognized by selling a security for more than the security originally cost. The gain is the difference between the cost and the sale. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary

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▪ I. gain gain ¹ [geɪn] verb

1. [transitive] to get or achieve something important or valuable, usually by working very hard:

• We hope to gain a larger share of the local market.

• BP America shared the knowledge gained from the disaster with other oil companies.

2. [intransitive, transitive] to gradually get more of a useful or valuable quality, skill etc:

• Donald gained a lot of useful experience when he was working for a merchant bank.

• Employees will gain in knowledge and confidence by making full use of the training opportunities.

3. [intransitive, transitive] FINANCE to increase in value or amount:

• Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained slightly, closing up 3.75 points.

• Production in both China and India gained while domestic consumption slowed.

• For the week, the Dow industrials gained 39.85 points.

4. gain ground FINANCE if a currency, share, or financial market gains ground, it increases in value:

• The stock market gained ground after two days of losses.

gain ground against

• The dollar gained ground against (= compared to ) foreign currencies.

5. gain ground to gradually become more popular, successful etc:

• The retailer has gained ground, with sales up 12.2%.

gain ground against/​on

• Aluminium has been gaining ground against (= compared to ) more traditional metals.

• GM's trucks are gaining ground on Ford's F series.

6. [intransitive, transitive] COMMERCE to get an advantage from a situation, opportunity, or event:

• Some countries depreciated their currencies so as to gain a competitive advantage over their trading rivals.

gain (something) from something

• Malaysia has not always gained greatly from the sales of assets such as shares in its airline.

• People with higher incomes clearly gained more from the tax cuts.

• The management group owns about 18% of the stock and would stand to gain millions of dollars if the company were sold.

7. gain a foothold COMMERCE to reach a position from which you can start to make progress and achieve your aims:

• European television groups will be ready to pay substantial amounts to gain a foothold in the UK market.

8. gain currency to become more popular:

• The new idea was gaining currency.

9. gain access to something COMMERCE if a country or company gains access to a place, it is able to sell its products there for the first time:

• The government's aim is to help US companies gain access to foreign markets.

• US computer makers have accused the Japanese of selling machines at steep discounts to gain access to markets where they are not competitive.

10. gain access to something to manage to use something, especially something that is difficult to obtain:

• The program allows a hacker to secretly gain access to computer systems.

11. gain approval if a plan, proposal etc gains approval, it is officially accepted:

• The company did not gain approval from the planning commission for the new building.

12. gain in popularity become more popular:

• Insurance-funded plans are gaining in popularity because they are not subject to tax.

  [m0] ▪ II. gain gain ² noun

1. [countable] an increase in the amount or level of something:

• The supermarket chain's share price ended the year with a near 60% gain.

• The Nikkei average ended with a gain of 140.19 points at 35,522.99.

gain in

• gains in consumer spending

• a 50 point gain in the Dow Jones industrial average on the New York Stock Exchange

2. [uncountable] FINANCE financial profit:

• Developers cut down the forests for economic gain.

• The senator denied the charge that he was using his office for personal gain.

ˌcapital ˈgain [countable]

FINANCE TAX profit that is made when an asset is sold for more than it cost, or more than its book value:

• Much of its profit increase came from the sale of an office building for a capital gain of FF1.3 billion.

• The group realized a capital gain of SKr100 million on the sale of its laundry and textile units.

• You may incur a capital gain (= make a capital gain that will be taxed ) every time you transfer money from one mutual fund to another.

ˌshort-term ˈgain [countable]

FINANCE TAX profit made from the sale of an asset within a short time of buying it, usually one year

3. [countable] an advantage or improvement:

• The new machinery has produced big efficiency gains.

4. ill-gotten gains [plural] money or an advantage obtained dishonestly:

• The police now have been given more powers to crack down on drug dealers and seize their ill-gotten gains.

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Ⅰ.

gain UK US /geɪn/ noun [C or U]

► an increase in size, weight, amount, etc.: »

Having deducted costs we still made a net gain of five thousand pounds.

»

Stocks ended the day with a moderate gain.

► something useful or good that you get for yourself: »

He was fired for abusing his position for his own personal gain.

→ See also BOOK GAIN(Cf. ↑book gain), CAPITAL GAIN(Cf. ↑capital gain), SHORT-TERM GAIN(Cf. ↑short-term gain), PAPER GAIN(Cf. ↑paper gain)

Ⅱ.

gain UK US /geɪn/ verb [I or T]

► to increase in amount or value: »

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrials gained more than 52 points.

► to get something that is important or gives you an advantage, especially over a period of time: »

Most temporary employees say they gained new abilities through their assignments.

● gain access to sth — Cf. gain access to sth

● gain currency — Cf. gain currency

● gain ground — Cf. gain ground