What's the difference between gain and vain?

Gain


Definition:

  • (n.) A square or beveled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.
  • (a.) Convenient; suitable; direct; near; handy; dexterous; easy; profitable; cheap; respectable.
  • (v. t.) That which is gained, obtained, or acquired, as increase, profit, advantage, or benefit; -- opposed to loss.
  • (v. t.) The obtaining or amassing of profit or valuable possessions; acquisition; accumulation.
  • (n.) To get, as profit or advantage; to obtain or acquire by effort or labor; as, to gain a good living.
  • (n.) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition; as, to gain a battle; to gain a case at law; to gain a prize.
  • (n.) To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate.
  • (n.) To reach; to attain to; to arrive at; as, to gain the top of a mountain; to gain a good harbor.
  • (n.) To get, incur, or receive, as loss, harm, or damage.
  • (v. i.) To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress; as, the sick man gains daily.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Anti-corruption campaigners have already trooped past the €18.9m mansion on Rue de La Baume, bought in 2007 in the name of two Bongo children, then 13 and 16, and other relatives, in what some call Paris's "ill-gotten gains" walking tour.
  • (2) The metabolism of [1,3-14C]benzo[f]quinoline (BfQ) by liver microsomes from control, 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC)-pretreated and phenobarbital (PB)-pretreated rats has been investigated in order to gain insights into the effect of mixed function oxidase inducers on the types and levels of specific metabolites as formed in vitro.
  • (3) Helsby, who joined the estate agent in 1980, saw his basic salary unchanged at £225,000, but gains a £610,000 windfall in shares, available from May, as well as a £363,000 increase in cash and shares under the company profits-sharing scheme.
  • (4) Breast conserving surgery in patients with small tumors combined with radiation therapy has gained wide popularity due to better cosmetic results without significant changes in survival.
  • (5) Abruptly changing cows from one feeding system to another did not influence milk yield, milk composition, or body weight gain.
  • (6) Physicians working in the emergency room gained 14.7% during that time of day the PNP was present.
  • (7) The reference cohort consisted of 1725845 men otherwise gainfully employed.
  • (8) "We presently are involved in a number of intellectual property lawsuits, and as we face increasing competition and gain an increasingly high profile, we expect the number of patent and other intellectual property claims against us to grow," the company said.
  • (9) I have heard from other workers that the list has also been provided to the law enforcement authorities,” Gain says.
  • (10) He also plans to build a processing facility where tourists can gain firsthand experience of the fisheries industry, and to open a restaurant.
  • (11) At first it looked as though the winger might have shown too much of the ball to the defence, yet he managed to gain a crucial last touch to nudge it past Phil Jones and into the path of Jerome, who slipped Chris Smalling’s attempt at a covering tackle and held off Michael Carrick’s challenge to place a shot past an exposed De Gea.
  • (12) These results suggest that aluminum is able to gain access to the central nervous system under normal physiological conditions.
  • (13) Averaged across all dietary levels, tiamulin resulted in a 14.1% improvement in gain and a 5.7% improvement in feed:gain ratio during the first 28 to 35 d of the experiment (to 30 kg).
  • (14) In the first trial to investigate the effect of tick control, significant improvements in liveweight gain (LWG) occurred only in periods of medium to high challenge with adult Amblyomma variegatum.
  • (15) These results suggest that a lowered basal energy expenditure and a reduced glucose-induced thermogenesis contribute to the positive energy balance which results in relapse of body weight gain after cessation of a hypocaloric diet.
  • (16) A variety of homobifunctional crosslinking agents have been used to gain insight into the nature of the murine interleukin 3 (mIL-3) receptor.
  • (17) As a result, each may eventually gain widespread use after further development.
  • (18) Gains in gait pattern, ease of bracing, and reduced pelvic obliquity were noted.
  • (19) At 24 days of age, the pups of HP, M and M-F diet groups, only gained 48%, 30% and 18% respectively, in their body weight, whereas the body-length parameters (LNC and LNRC) showed a reduction of 20%, 35%, and 45%, respectively for the same diet groups.
  • (20) Among the agents triggering such an infection Chlamydia (30.9% of the cases of non-gonorrhoic urethritis), as well as mycoplasma, ureaplasma, anaerobic bacteria and herpes simplex viruses have gained particular significance.

Vain


Definition:

  • (superl.) Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
  • (superl.) Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
  • (superl.) Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
  • (superl.) Showy; ostentatious.
  • (n.) Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase in vain.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) For example, if we purchase new examination equipment without any consideration or if we decide what type of equipment to introduce according to the common advice of the purchase committee of the hospital or the medical school, then we cannot design an ideal system of laboratory examinations and are forced to invest a large sum of money in vain.
  • (2) The George Bush campaign juggernaut hit the first serious pothole of its cash-fuelled drive to the presidency yesterday, as the Texas governor tried in vain to fend off questions about whether he had used cocaine as a young man.
  • (3) Full set list, show one (thanks to princevault.com ) Take Me With U (acoustic) Raspberry Beret (acoustic) U Got The Look (acoustic) Instrumental jam (acoustic) Train In Vain (acoustic) Q & A (1) incl.
  • (4) VaIN rarely is an isolated lesion and frequently is preceded by, or coexists with, other types of premalignant genital squamous neoplasia.
  • (5) He’s the kind of self-styled intellectual journalist in politics who caused so much trouble in 20th century politics, not a bad man, decent enough in his way, but not as smart as he thinks he is, vain with it.
  • (6) For long spells, West Ham searched in vain for inspiration as they tried to find a way past Newcastle United’s defence and end a run of three matches without a win.
  • (7) Further, in a vain attempt for a boost in the Hoosier State, Cruz unveiled former rival Carly Fiorina as his running mate if he receives the nomination and was able to cajole the state’s sitting governor, Mike Pence, into an endorsement.
  • (8) The next few days may well determine whether, this time, such loyalty will be in vain; but, while yearning for a clarion call and what was described as "vision" in this paper's leading article yesterday, I need to pose some pretty stark questions to Guardian readers.
  • (9) He aims to put his newspapers, including the Times and the Sun, behind a paywall, something described by the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, as a vain attempt to "put the genie back in the bottle".
  • (10) In vain I argued that Robin Day seemed to wear the same jacket and shirt every week, and fled back to radio."
  • (11) Now I can feel that my son's blood wasn't totally lost in vain.
  • (12) In vain will Cameron plead that blame should lie with Brown and his Labour colleagues.
  • (13) At a media day held to mark the completion of the training and arranged before the tragedy, soldier after soldier came forward to insist that, though they were apprehensive, they were determined to do a good job, partly to make sure that their six colleagues had not died in vain.
  • (14) He somehow scrambled to deuce and delighted in forcing Dimitrov to chase in vain from one side of the court to the other to go 6-5 up.
  • (15) Assessment of patients between 9 and 99 (mean 55) months after partial colpectomy for VAIN showed no recurrence of disease in ten patients (83%).
  • (16) The scientific establishment struggled in vain to produce evidence that would reassure the public.
  • (17) No grieving wants to go through that, and our city doesn’t want to go through that.” Murphy said an accelerated program to equip Baltimore police officers with body cameras would mean Gray “did not die in vain”.
  • (18) His mother has said she tried in vain to get help for him.
  • (19) But he flailed in vain as the police officers grabbed him, one forcing his T-shirt roughly up over his head as three or four others laid in with their wooden batons, dragging and pushing him to a line of waiting Land Cruisers and more helmeted cops.
  • (20) As Steve spends half his money trying in vain to keep a scowl off Michelle's face and the rest comfort eating, Liz stumped up half the cash.