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v. col·lect·ed, col·lect·ing, col·lects v.tr. 1. a. To bring together in a group or mass; gather: The teacher collected the exams. b. To accumulate as a hobby or for study: collect old coins; collect folk tales. See Synonyms at gather. 2. To call for and obtain payment of: collect taxes. 3. To be the site for (an accumulating mass), especially as a consequence of disuse or neglect: My guitar is collecting dust in the corner. 4. To recover control of: collect one's emotions. 5. To call for (someone); pick up: collected the children and drove home. v.intr. 1. To come together in a group or mass; gather: Sand collected in the crevices. 2. To take in payments or donations: collecting for charity. adv. & adj. With payment to be made by the receiver: called collect; a collect phone call. [Middle English collecten, from Latin colligere, collēct- : com-, com- + legere, to gather; see leg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. Ecclesiastical A brief formal prayer that is used in various Western liturgies before the epistle and that varies with the day. [Middle English collecte, from Old French, from Medieval Latin collēcta, short for (ōrātiō ad) collēctam, (prayer at the) gathering, from Latin collēctus, gathered, past participle of colligere, to gather; see COLLECT1.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
