collect

views updated Jun 08 2018

col·lect1 / kəˈlekt/ • v. [tr.] 1. bring or gather together (things, typically when scattered or widespread). ∎  accumulate and store over a period of time: collect rainwater to use on the garden. ∎  systematically seek and acquire (items of a particular kind) as a hobby: I've started collecting stamps. | [intr.] the urge to collect, to have the full set, is in us all. ∎  [intr.] come together and form a group or mass: dust and dirt collect so quickly..2. call for and take away; fetch: the children were collected from school. ∎  go somewhere and accept or receive (something), esp. as a right or due: she went to Oxford to collect her honorary degree. ∎  solicit and receive (donations), esp. for charity: collecting money for the war effort | [intr.] we collected for the United Way. ∎  receive (money that is due); be paid: [tr.] they called to collect a debt | [intr.] he'd come to collect.3. (collect oneself) regain control of oneself, typically after a shock. ∎  bring together and concentrate (one's thoughts).4. archaic conclude; infer.5. cause (a horse) to bring its hind legs further forward as it moves, thereby shortening the stride and increasing balance and impulsion.• adv. & adj. (with reference to a telephone call) to be paid for by the person receiving it: [as adv.] I called my mother collect | [as adj.] a collect call. col·lect2 / ˈkälˌekt; -likt/ • n. (in church use) a short prayer, esp. one assigned to a particular day or season.

collect

views updated Jun 08 2018

collect 2 gather together. XVI. — OF. collecter or medL. collēctāre, f. collēct-, pp. stem of colligere, f. COL- + legere collect, assemble, choose, read.
So collection action of collecting XIV; things collected XV. — (O)F. — L. collective XV. — F. or L. Hence collectivism, -ist XIX. collector XIV. — AN. collectour — medL. collector; see -OR 1.

collect

views updated Jun 11 2018

collect in church use, a short prayer, especially one assigned to a particular day or season. The word is recorded from Middle English, and comes via Old French from Latin collecta ‘gathering’, feminine past participle of colligere ‘gather together’.

collect

views updated May 29 2018

collect 1 (liturg.) short prayer, varying with the day or season. XIII. — (O)F. collecte — L. collēcta collection, (late) assembly, sb. use of fem. pp. of colligere COLLECT 2.

Collect

views updated May 11 2018

Collect

a meeting for worship; an assembly; a collection; a gathering.

Examples: collect of money; of Tuscan hieroglyphics, 1651.

Collect

views updated May 29 2018

Collect. A short variable prayer used in W. Christian worship.

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