| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | something given freely, for no recompense |
| Synonyms: | allowance, alms, award, benefaction, benefit, bequest, bestowal, bonus, boon, bounty, charity, contribution, courtesy, dispensation, donation, endowment, fairing, favor, giveaway, goodie, grant, gratuity, hand, hand-me-down, handout, honorarium, lagniappe, largesse, legacy, libation, oblation, offering, offertory, philanthropy, pittance, premium, present, presentation, provision, ration, relief, remembrance, remittance, reward, souvenir, subscription, subsidy, tip, token, tribute, write-off |
| Antonyms: | forfeit, loss, penalty |
| Main Entry: | ability |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | natural or acquired power in a |
| Synonyms: | adroitness, bent, capability, cleverness, command, craft, deftness, expertise, expertness, finesse, flair, genius, gift, handiness, ingenuity, knack, know-how, mastery, mind for, particular activity adeptness, proficiency, savvy, skill, skillfulness, strength, talent, the goods, the right stuff, what it takes |
| Notes: | applied to a person, ability and capacity mean about the same thing but are grammatically different: an ability to do something, a capacity for doing something; ability is qualitative while capacity is quantitative |
| Antonyms: | clumsiness, ignorance, inability, inadequacy, inanity, incompetence, stupidity, weakness |
| Main Entry: | acknowledgment |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | physical symbol of recognition |
| Synonyms: | acclamation, addressing, answer, apology, applause, appreciation, bestowal, bow, card, confession, contract, credit, gift, gratitude, greeting, guarantee, hail, hailing, letter, nod, notice, reaction, receipt, reply, response, return, salutation, salute, signature, statement, support, thanks, token |
| Main Entry: | acquisition |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | something obtained, received |
| Synonyms: | accomplishment, achievement, allowance, annuity, award, benefit, bonus, commission, dividend, donation, earnings, fortune, gain, gift, grant, income, increment, inheritance, net, premium, prize, proceeds, profit, remuneration, return, reward, riches, salary, security, wages, wealth, winnings |
| Notes: | acquisition is a material possession while an acquirement is a personal skill or knowledge that one gains |
| Main Entry: | aid |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | help, support |
| Synonyms: | advancement, advice, advocacy, alleviation, allowance, assist, assistance, attention, backing, backup, benefaction, benefit, benevolence, bounty, care, charity, comfort, compensation, cooperation, deliverance, encouragement, endowment, favor, furtherance, gift, giving, guidance, hand, handout, leg up, lift, ministration, ministry, patronage, promotion, reinforcement, relief, rescue, reward, salvation, service, shot in the arm, subsidy, sustenance, treatment |
| Notes: | aid is assistance or a source of assistance; aide is an assistant |
| Antonyms: | blockage, hindrance, impediment, injury, obstruction |
| Main Entry: | allowance |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | amount of money or other supply |
| Synonyms: | aid, alimony, allocation, allotment, annuity, apportionment, bequest, bite*, bounty, commission, contribution, cut, endowment, fee, fellowship, gift, grant, honorarium, inheritance, interest, legacy, lot, measure, part, pay, pension, piece, portion, prize, quantity, quota, ration, recompense, remittance, salary, scholarship, share, slice, stint, stipend, subsidy, taste, wage |
| Main Entry: | aptitude |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | quickness at learning |
| Synonyms: | ability, capability, capacity, cleverness, competence, faculty, flair, gift, giftedness, intelligence, knack, proficiency, savvy, smarts, stuff*, talent, what it takes |
| Notes: | aptitude and attitude derive from Latin aptitudo 'fitness,' the first through French, the second through a French borrowing of Italian attitudine |
| Antonyms: | incapacity, stupidity |
| Main Entry: | award |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | prize or reward |
| Synonyms: | accolade, adjudication, allotment, bestowal, citation, conferment, conferral, decision, decoration, decree, distinction, donation, endowment, feather in cap, gift, gold, gold star, grant, honor, order, presentation, scholarship, trophy, verdict |
| Notes: | an award is something awarded or granted, as for merit; a reward is something given or received in recompense for worthy behavior or in retribution for evil acts |
| Main Entry: | award |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | give prize or reward |
| Synonyms: | accord, adjudge, allocate, allot, apportion, assign, bestow, concede, confer, decree, dish out, distribute, donate, endow, fork out, gift, grant, hand out, present, render, reward, shell out, sweeten the kitty |
| Notes: | an award is something awarded or granted, as for merit; a reward is something given or received in recompense for worthy behavior or in retribution for evil acts |