Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Gather \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.

Gathering \Gath"er*ing\, n.
   1. The act of collecting or bringing together.

   2. That which is gathered, collected, or brought together;
      as:
      (a) A crowd; an assembly; a congregation.
      (b) A charitable contribution; a collection.
      (c) A tumor or boil suppurated or maturated; an abscess.

Gathering \Gath"er*ing\, a.
   Assembling; collecting; used for gathering or concentrating.

   {Gathering board} (Bookbinding), a table or board on which
      signatures are gathered or assembled, to form a book.
      --Knight.

   {Gathering coal}, a lighted coal left smothered in embers
      over night, about which kindling wood is gathered in the
      morning.

   {Gathering hoop}, a hoop used by coopers to draw together the
      ends of barrel staves, to allow the hoops to be slipped
      over them.

   {Gathering peat}.
   (a) A piece of peat used as a gathering coal, to preserve a
       fire.
   (b) In Scotland, a fiery peat which was sent round by the
       Borderers as an alarm signal, as the fiery cross was by
       the Highlanders.

Source : WordNet®

gathering
     adj : accumulating and becoming more intense; "the deepening
           gloom"; "felt a deepening love"; "the gathering
           darkness"; "the thickening dusk" [syn: {deepening(a)},
           {gathering(a)}, {thickening(a)}]
     n 1: a group of persons together in one place [syn: {assemblage}]
     2: the social act of assembling; "they demanded the right of
        assembly" [syn: {assembly}, {assemblage}] [ant: {dismantling}]
     3: the act of gathering something [syn: {gather}]
     4: sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling
        tight a thread in a line of stitching [syn: {gather}]