| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| bring |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  br ng |
| TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: brought ( brôt), bring·ing, brings
1. To carry, convey, lead, or cause to go along to another place: brought enough money with me. 2. To carry as an attribute or contribution: You bring many years of experience to your new post. 3. To lead or force into a specified state, situation, or location: bring the water to a boil; brought the meeting to a close. 4a. To persuade; induce: The defendant's testimony brought others to confess. b. To get the attention of; attract: Smoke and flames brought the neighbors. 5. To cause to occur as a consequence or concomitant: Floods brought destruction to the valley. For many, the fall brings hayfever. 6. To cause to become apparent to the mind; recall: This music brings back memories. 7. Law To advance or set forth (charges) in a court. 8. To sell for: a portrait that brought a million dollars. | | PHRASAL VERBS: | bring around (or round) 1. To cause to adopt an opinion or take a certain course of action. 2. To cause to recover consciousness. bring down 1. To cause to fall or collapse. 2. To kill. bring forth 1. To give rise to; produce: plants bringing forth fruit. 2. To give birth to (young). bring forward 1. To present; produce: bring forward proof. 2. Accounting To carry (a sum) from one page or column to another. bring in 1. Law To give or submit (a verdict) to a court. 2. To produce, yield, or earn (profits or income). bring off To accomplish: bring off a successful advertising campaign. bring on To cause to appear: brought on the dessert. bring out 1a. To reveal or expose: brought out the facts. b. To introduce (a debutante) to society. 2. To produce or publish: bring out a new book. 3. To nurture and develop (a quality, for example) to best advantage: You bring out the best in me. bring to 1. To cause to recover consciousness. 2. Nautical To cause (a ship) to turn into the wind or come to a stop. bring up 1. To take care of and educate (a child); rear. 2. To introduce into discussion; mention. 3. To vomit. 4. To cause to come to a sudden stop. | | IDIOMS: | bring down the house To win overwhelming approval from an audience. bring home To make perfectly clear: a lecture that brought home several important points. bring home the bacon 1. To earn a living, especially for a family. 2. To achieve desired results; have success. bring to bear 1. To exert; apply: bring pressure to bear on the student's parents. 2. To put (something) to good use: “All of one's faculties are brought to bear in an effort to become fully incorporated into the landscape” (Barry Lopez).bring to light To reveal or disclose: brought the real facts to light. bring to mind To cause to be remembered: Thoughts of fishing brought to mind our youth. bring to (one's) knees To reduce to a position of subservience or submission. bring to terms To force (another) to agree. bring up the rear To be the last in a line or sequence. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English bringen, from Old English bringan. See bher-1 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | bring er —NOUN
| | USAGE NOTE: | In most dialects of American English bring is used to denote motion toward the place of speaking or the place from which the action is regarded: Bring it over here. The prime minister brought a large retinue to Washington with her. Take is used to denote motion away from such a place: Take it over there. The President will take several advisers with him when he goes to Moscow. When the relevant point of focus is not the place of speaking itself, the difference obviously depends on the context. We can say either The labor leaders brought or took their requests to the mayor's office, depending on whether we want to describe things from the point of view of the labor leaders or the mayor. Perhaps for this reason, the distinction between bring and take has been blurred in some areas; a parent may say of a child, for example, She always takes a pile of books home with her from school. This usage may sound curious to those who are accustomed to observe the distinction more strictly, but it bears no particular stigma of incorrectness or illiteracy. •The form brung is common in colloquial use in many areas, even among educated speakers, but it is not standard in formal writing.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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