All 5 Uses
attain
in
Around the World in 80 Days
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- He certainly did not bet to win, and had only staked the twenty thousand pounds, half of his fortune, because he foresaw that he might have to expend the other half to carry out this difficult, not to say unattainable, project.†
Chpt 3unattainable = not able to be gained or reached with effortstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unattainable means not and reverses the meaning of attainable. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- It was not enough to reach the walls; an opening in them must be accomplished, and to attain this purpose the party only had their pocket-knives.†
Chpt 13 *attain = gain or reach something with effort
- At eleven in the morning the train had reached the dividing ridge of the waters at Bridger Pass, seven thousand five hundred and twenty-four feet above the level of the sea, one of the highest points attained by the track in crossing the Rocky Mountains.†
Chpt 28attained = gained or reached something with effort
- The road here attained the highest elevation of the journey, eight thousand and ninety-two feet above the level of the sea.†
Chpt 29
- That gentleman was really ruined, and that at the moment when he was about to attain his end.†
Chpt 34attain = gain or reach something with effort
Definitions:
-
(1)
(attain) to gain or reach something with effort
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)