ac·quire

(ə-kwīr′)

tr.v. ac·quired, ac·quir·ing, ac·quires

1. To gain possession of: acquire 100 shares of stock.

2. To get by one's own efforts: acquire proficiency in math.

3. To gain through experience; come by: acquired a growing dislike of television sitcoms.

4. To locate (a target) with an aiming device or a tracking system, such as radar.

[Middle English acquere, from Old French aquerre, from Latin acquīrere, to add to : ad-, ad- + quaerere, to seek, get.]

ac·quir′a·ble adj.

ac·quir′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

acquiring - the act of acquiring something; "I envied his talent for acquiring"; "he's much more interested in the getting than in the giving"

getting

human action, human activity, act, deed - something that people do or cause to happen

acquisition - the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something; "the acquisition of wealth"; "the acquisition of one company by another"

obtainment, obtention - the act of obtaining

contracting, catching - becoming infected; "catching cold is sometimes unavoidable"; "the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic"

appropriation - a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner; "the necessary funds were obtained by the government's appropriation of the company's operating unit"; "a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is dishonest"

moving in, occupancy, occupation - the act of occupying or taking possession of a building; "occupation of a building without a certificate of occupancy is illegal"

capture, gaining control, seizure - the act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property

receipt, reception - the act of receiving

pickup - the act of taking aboard passengers or freight

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Concepts of good and evil are therefore, in their origin, merely a means to an end, they are expedients for acquiring power.

View in context

And forasmuch as, while thus indifferent to the thought alike of fame or of forgetfulness, I have yet been unable to prevent myself from acquiring some sort of reputation, I have thought it incumbent on me to do my best to save myself at least from being ill-spoken of.

View in context

We Communists have been reproached with the desire of abolishing the right of personally acquiring property as the fruit of a man's own labour, which property is alleged to be the groundwork of all personal freedom, activity and independence.

View in context

Finally, new section 355(e), as originally drafted, applied only to "a person" acquiring a 50-percent or greater interest in the distributing or any controlled corporation.

The new anti-Morris trust and intragroup spin provisions

The simplest case is acquiring a single intangible asset for a specific price from an unrelated party.

Deducting the cost of intangibles

An asset's nature and not the manner of its acquisition determines an acquiring entity's subsequent accounting for the asset.

Tax implications of FASs 141 and 142

For the foregoing reasons, the anti-churning rule should be clarified to provide that no "tainting" relationship exists between the acquiring person and the seller of the target stock.

Amortization of intangibles under sections 167 and 197

In the event of a merger with an acquiring company that beneficially owns a specified percentage of the company's stock, the rights "flip over" and become rights to purchase the acquiring company's stock at a 50-percent discount.

The role of the financial executive in deterring hostile takeovers

The IRS ruled that if, pursuant to an integrated plan, a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of an acquiring corporation merges into a target, followed by the target's merger into the acquiring corporation, the transaction would be a single statutory merger of the target into the acquiring corporation that qualifies as a Sec.

IRS ruling interprets reorganization definition

In the case of transactions otherwise qualifying as tax-free reorganizations under section 368(a)(1)(A), (B), (C), or (G) (meeting the requirements of sections 354(b)(1)(a) and (B)), section 368(a)(2)(c) permits the acquiring corporation to transfer the acquired assets or stock to a corporation "controlled" by the acquiring corporation.

Proposed section 368 regulations (remote continuity-of-interest doctrine). (Tax Executive Institute's comments submitted to IRS on April 30, 1997)

The acquiring corporation forms a new subsidiary by contributing cash or liquid assets.

IRS issues guidance on disguised corporate sales

Requiring a negative adjustment for expiring losses was a controversial provision when promulgated in the proposed regulations and attracted many critical comments.(22) To allay taxpayer concerns, the IRS provided an election in the final regulations to permit the acquiring company to forgo the use of the acquired company's losses.(23) This election must be made by filing a statement with the tax return for the year the subsidiary is acquired.(24) By making this election, the NOL or capital loss is deemed to expire immediately before the subsidiary becomes a member of the acquiring consolidated group.

Responding to the new subsidiary investment and earnings and profits consolidated return regulations