obtain

present singular third person obtains · participle present obtaining · participle past obtained · past obtained · first person past singular obtained · archaic present second person singular obtainest · past second person singular obtained · archaic past second person singular obtainedst · present singular third person obtains · archaic present singular third person obtaineth · past singular third person obtained · past plural obtained · past subjunctive obtained · participle present obtaining · participle past obtained · alternative obsolete obtein

1. transitiveTo get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.First known use 15th c.

   obtain permission

   5 more examples

   obtain information

   difficult to obtain

   Applicants must obtain a permit before construction.

   We obtained accurate data from the survey.

   And a certayne ruler axed him: sayinge: Goode Master: what ought I to do, to obtaine eternall lyfe?

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke

   Synonyms: get, gain, acquire, attain, procure, exact

2. intransitiveobsoleteTo secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached.First known use 15th–19th c.

   he was condemned to die for the felony, and being so well known for an old offender, had certainly died, but the merchant, upon his earnest application, had obtained that he should be transported, on condition that he restored all the rest of his bills, which he had done accordingly.

   1722, Daniel Defoe, Colonel Jack

3. intransitiveobsoleteTo prevail, be victorious; to succeed.First known use 15th–19th c.

   “O daughter deare!” (said she) “despeire no whit; / For never sore but might a salve obtain [...].”

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

   1 more example

   This, though it failed at present, yet afterward obtained, and was a mighty step to the ruin of the commonwealth.

   1701, Jonathan Swift, Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome

4. obsoletetransitiveTo hold; to keep, possess or occupy.First known use 15th–18th c.

   His mother then is mortal, but his Sire / He who obtains the monarchy of Heav'n, / And what will he not do to advance his Son?

   1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 6, lines 76–79

5. especiallyintransitivehuman sciencesTo exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.First known use 17th c.

   But the hostage situation no longer obtains, and so Uncle Enzo feels it important to stop Rife now, […]

   1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 460

   2 more examples

   Even though the Pervaise confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt could obtain; for the act in question […] was on a par with countless other acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the capitalists.

   1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 17, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC

   In connection with the various courses of practical instruction, the companies maintain signalling schools fitted with standard railway equipment in which the staff can be given instructions under conditions exactly similar to those which obtain in signal boxes.

   1942 July-August, T. F. Cameron, “How the Staff of a Railway is Recruited”, in Railway Magazine, page 207