\Gath"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Gathered}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Gathering}.] [OE. gaderen, AS. gaderian, gadrian, fr.
gador, geador, together, fr. g[ae]d fellowship; akin to E.
good, D. gaderen to collect, G. gatte husband, MHG. gate,
also companion, Goth. gadiliggs a sister's son. [root]29. See
{Good}, and cf. {Together}.]
1. To bring together; to collect, as a number of separate
   things, into one place, or into one aggregate body; to
   assemble; to muster; to congregate.
         And Belgium's capital had gathered them Her beauty
         and her chivalry.                     --Byron.
         When he had gathered all the chief priests and
         scribes of the people together.       --Matt. ii. 4.
2. To pick out and bring together from among what is of less
   value; to collect, as a harvest; to harvest; to cull; to
   pick off; to pluck.
         A rose just gathered from the stalk.  --Dryden.
         Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
                                               --Matt. vii.
                                               16.
         Gather us from among the heathen.     --Ps. cvi. 47.
3. To accumulate by collecting and saving little by little;
   to amass; to gain; to heap up.
         He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his
         substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity
         the poor.                             --Prov.
                                               xxviii. 8.
         To pay the creditor . . . he must gather up money by
         degrees.                              --Locke.
4. To bring closely together the parts or particles of; to
   contract; to compress; to bring together in folds or
   plaits, as a garment; also, to draw together, as a piece
   of cloth by a thread; to pucker; to plait; as, to gather a
   ruffle.
         Gathering his flowing robe, he seemed to stand In
         act to speak, and graceful stretched his hand.
                                               --Pope.
5. To derive, or deduce, as an inference; to collect, as a
   conclusion, from circumstances that suggest, or arguments
   that prove; to infer; to conclude.
         Let me say no more? Gather the sequel by that went
         before.                               --Shak.
6. To gain; to win. [Obs.]
         He gathers ground upon her in the chase. --Dryden.
7. (Arch.) To bring together, or nearer together, in masonry,
   as where the width of a fireplace is rapidly diminished to
   the width of the flue, or the like.
8. (Naut.) To haul in; to take up; as, to gather the slack of
   a rope.
{To be gathered} {to one's people, or to one's fathers} to
   die. --Gen. xxv. 8.
{To gather breath}, to recover normal breathing after being
   out of breath; to get breath; to rest. --Spenser.
{To gather one's self together}, to collect and dispose one's
   powers for a great effort, as a beast crouches preparatory
   to a leap.
{To gather way} (Naut.), to begin to move; to move with
   increasing speed.

\Gath"er\, v. i.
1. To come together; to collect; to unite; to become
   assembled; to congregate.
         When small humors gather to a gout.   --Pope.
         Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in
         the heart, and gather to the eyes.    --Tennyson.
2. To grow larger by accretion; to increase.
         Their snowball did not gather as it went. --Bacon.
3. To concentrate; to come to a head, as a sore, and generate
   pus; as, a boil has gathered.
4. To collect or bring things together.
         Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and
         gather where I have not strewed.      --Matt. xxv.
                                               26.

\Gath"er\, n.
1. A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through
   it; a pucker.
2. (Carriage Making) The inclination forward of the axle
   journals to keep the wheels from working outward.
3. (Arch.) The soffit or under surface of the masonry
   required in gathering. See {Gather}, v. t., 7.