attainat‧tain /əˈteɪn/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] formal 
More women are attaining positions of power.2to reach a particular level, age, size etc: Share prices attained a high of $3.27. After a year she had attained her ideal weight.—attainable adjective: This target should be attainable.
WORD ORIGINattain
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French ataindre, from Latin attingere, from ad- ‘to’ + tangere ‘to touch’VERB TABLE
attain
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | attain |
| he, she, it | attains | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | attained |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have attained |
| he, she, it | has attained | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had attained |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will attain |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have attained |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am attaining |
| he, she, it | is attaining | |
| you, we, they | are attaining | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was attaining |
| you, we, they | were attaining | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been attaining |
| he, she, it | has been attaining | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been attaining |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be attaining |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been attaining |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- India attained independence in 1947.
- Jean Arthur worked for a decade before attaining stardom.
- The balloonists attained an altitude of 33,000 feet.
- The latest model is capable of attaining speeds in excess of 300 kph.
- When migrating, birds may attain a height of three thousand metres or more.
- Howard attracted many gifted people who have subsequently attained leadership roles in the Salvation Army.
- I would tell them that they could attain levels of quality and customer satisfaction greater than they had ever imagined.
- Often, in fact, Gandhi was more interested in improving the human means than in attaining political ends.
- She mounted the bike and wobbled precariously for several yards before attaining a kind of equilibrium along Small's Wynd and disappearing.
- Supervisors encourage you to set goals that stretch you but are achievable, and then reward you for attaining them.
- Together with this person, you can attain results far more spectacular than either of you could achieve alone.
- When Maine attained statehood in 1820, much of the interior was unsettled.
Longman Language Activatorwhen something can be done
something that is possible , can be done: · Travel to other planets may soon be possible.· Detectives can now check every criminal's records, which wouldn't be possible without computers.· The only possible way a woman could rise in class was to marry into a family of higher social standing than her own.it is possible to do something: · Is it possible to find a room in a good hotel for less than $100?if possible: · I want to get back by 5 o'clock if possible.as soon/quickly/big etc as possible: · Please let me know your answer as soon as possible.· We must get her to the hospital as quickly as possible.humanly possible (=use this to emphasize that you will do something as fast, as well etc as possible): · We will deal with all complaints as soon as is humanly possible.do/try everything possible: · The doctors did everything possible to save her life.
if something can be done , it is possible to do it: · The job can be done by Friday if we all make an effort.· I'm sure that more could be done to help the homeless.· Val got her MA while she was working full-time, so it can be done.
one of the things that you could try to do: · One possibility is to offer him more money.· Computers have opened up many exciting possibilities.the possibility of doing something: · We are considering the possibility of providing a new class for advanced students.
a plan, idea, or method that is feasible is possible and is likely to work: · Barrington suggest transporting the supplies by air. This of course is perfectly feasible.· We agreed on a feasible plan and within a week we implemented it.it is feasible to do something: · It is not feasible to have security cameras in every part of the building.it is feasible that: · Da Silva considered it feasible that uranium could be produced on an industrial scale.
a workable way of doing something is a possible way of doing it - use this when you have had a lot of problems finding a suitable way: · There is a dispute over land but we believe we have found a workable solution to this problem.· A new plan provides for loans to students, but to make the system workable more government funding will be needed.
informal a job that is doable is one that can be done: · You did well to even start the project -- at first we didn't think it was doable at all.
an aim or standard that is attainable is one that can be achieved and it is reasonable to try to achieve it: · Perfect democracy is not attainable, nor is perfect freedom or perfect justice.· Every child should be educated to the highest attainable level.
a viable way of doing something is one that is possible and should work well: · Do you think this is a viable proposition?· Nuclear energy is the only viable alternative to coal or gas.· They are in favour of the program, but they want strong assurances that it is viable.
when a number or amount reaches a particular level if a number or amount reaches a particular level, it increases or decreases until it gets to that level: · Gold prices have reached their lowest level in 15 years.reach $500/100 mph etc: · Wind speeds reached over 100 mph in coastal districts.· The value of most houses in this area has reached over £200,000.reach a peak (=reach the highest level): · Inflation continued to rise, reaching a peak of 28%.
to reach a very high or a very low level: · The temperature hit 40°C in parts of the country yesterday.· If sales continue to increase, output may hit the 500,000 mark this year.hit rock bottom (=reach an extremely low level): · Analysts say that the value of the Euro could hit rock bottom in the next few months.hit an all-time low/high (=reach the lowest or highest level ever): · As oil production increased, prices hit an all-time low.
to reach a high level - use this in formal or technical contexts : attain a height/speed etc of something: · When migrating, birds may attain a height of three thousand metres or more.· The latest model is capable of attaining speeds in excess of 300 kph.attain a high of something: · Share prices attained a high of $3.27.
to reach a high or a low level for a very short time: · The plane touched the speed of sound in a power dive.touch a high of something: · Yesterday, the dollar touched a seventeen-week high of 1.4748 marks.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He had barely reached manhood when he married.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
· She has worked hard to achieve her goal of a job in the medical profession.· They’re hoping to reach their goal of raising £10,000 for charity.
He had barely reached manhood when he married.· The mocked senility was never attained: Bouilhet diet at forty-eight, Flaubert at fifty-eight.· As long as the elements never attain their natural places in an absolute sense, things will continue much as they are.· That was one thing Jezrael had that she had never attained.
· But I could only attain to be thrilled and enchanted, as by the sound of a strain of music dying away.· You only attain new levels of relative poverty.· They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.
NOUN· Pool pairs of cells that have divided within a chosen time interval and culture until they attain the appropriate age.· Regarding structure, most studies conclude that children attain concrete operations around age 6 or 7 independent of formal schooling.· This was done upon the eldest son attaining the age of 21 years.· The successful application of reversibility to liquid volume problems is not attained until about age 7.
· As soon as a child is born entitlement begins and is never questioned until the child itself attains economic independence.· During concrete operational development, a child attains the use of fully logical operations for the first time.· Shaping Sometimes the behaviours to be learned are too complicated for the child to attain at once.· Most important, the concrete operational child attains reversibility of mental operations.· In most cultures, children without formal schooling attain conservation as readily as children with schooling.· A child must attain reversibility, learn to decenter perceptions, and be able to follow transformations.· Regarding structure, most studies conclude that children attain concrete operations around age 6 or 7 independent of formal schooling.
· I can not pretend that Mr James's book attains the same degree of enlightenment.· But, second, in the vast majority of markets, efficient production can be attained with a high degree of competition.
· At least, I consider violence an uneconomical way of attaining an end.· In my experience, people who tried to attain their ends by covert means came to unfortunate ends.· He must have been very bitter and ready to invoke any means to attain his ends.· Often, in fact, Gandhi was more interested in improving the human means than in attaining political ends.
· Programme evaluation, through effectiveness auditing, is measuring the extent to which goals have been attained.· Yet Bochy also recently pointed out to Gwynn that the player could attain some luminous goals, including 3, 000 hits.· The methods we have outlined will ensure that your will-power is strong enough for you to attain your goals.· Things that are useful in attaining goals come to have value to the child.· After twenty weeks this dieter will have attained all the salt goals.· Here is your opportunity to attain a goal.· Do you feel ambitious enough to attain goals that previously you might have thought were out of your personal reach?· Yet when a moment comes when I do not look, behold, they have attained their goal!
· These results confirm that transcripts of genes not implicated in deletion attained identical steady-state levels in the two strains.· I would tell them that they could attain levels of quality and customer satisfaction greater than they had ever imagined.· Tests are being devised for children with special needs expected to attain lower levels three to one.· Managers and employees will be asked to attain levels of performance previously considered impossible.· With a cash transfer the recipient of government assistance would attain a welfare level as shown by.· The drug selected for monotherapy is then added and appropriate dosage adjustment made to attain therapeutic serum levels.· Our aim is to encourage as many as possible to attain various levels within the award scheme.· You only attain new levels of relative poverty.
· The continuation of farming is not so much the objective of the Directive but the means to attain its objectives.· He must have been very bitter and ready to invoke any means to attain his ends.· In co-evolution terms it means that herbivorous dinosaurs may have grown large as a means of attaining thermal stability.· Often, in fact, Gandhi was more interested in improving the human means than in attaining political ends.
· The continuation of farming is not so much the objective of the Directive but the means to attain its objectives.· Efficiency relates to the cost in resources of attaining objectives.· The more uncertain and defensive you are, the more difficult it will be to attain your objectives.· We also object to flagrant waste, particularly of resources devoted to attaining our primary objectives.· When their motivations are strong and their targets clear, they are capable of going to incredible lengths to attain their objectives.
· Since different societies have different value systems, the ways of attaining a high position will vary from society to society.· The primates attained their dominant positions through a combination of military skill, physical prowess, and personal magnetism.· To attain hydrostatic equilibrium the position of the lithosphere adjusts vertically in accordance with its density and thickness.
· During the war lie served in the Royal Corps of Signals and attained the rank of Captain.· Three of the sons followed military or naval careers, two attaining the rank of admiral.· He attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Engineers.· He pursued a military career and attained the rank of Brigadier.
· Internally, the mushroom bodies attain great size and complexity in Hymenoptera with elaborate behaviour.· An apparently missing tail, for example, will often attain its original size within a couple of weeks.· Or have earthworms already attained the maximum size possible within the physical limits imposed by a hydraulic skeleton?
· June, too, had wanted to be noticed for herself and not just for fading to attain impossibly high standards.· It articulates the Group's commitment to attaining the highest practical standards of health, safety and environmental protection in the workplace.
· Once a person has attained archetypal status in the eyes of the world, it is very hard to break it.· Forbes has attained his second-place status without assembling the usual army of city and town coordinators, and without political endorsements.· At puberty, males become warriors and killing an enemy is often a prerequisite of attaining full adult status.· Few companies have yet attained this status, but many are well along the way.· Their failure to attain status comparable to that of older market-sector professions corrodes' middle class, conservatism.· The definition given by M.. Mauss has attained classical status, and more recent theories relate to it in some way.· Most attain that status only because Britain's plants and animals have been so much studied.
· To make matters worse many dietary instructional leaflets required a reading age not attained by the target population.
VERB· And he will be expected to use that information to improve performance and to help his company attain its strategic goals.
WORD FAMILYnounattainmentadjectiveattainable ≠ unattainableverbattain
1to succeed in achieving something after trying for a long time: More women are attaining positions of power.2to reach a particular level, age, size etc: Share prices attained a high of $3.27. After a year she had attained her ideal weight.—attainable adjective: This target should be attainable.