To acquire means to get or obtain something, especially through effort or over time. When you acquire a new skill like playing the piano, you don't just wake up one day knowing how to play. You practice, take lessons, and gradually build your ability. When a museum acquires a valuable painting, it goes through a careful process of finding it, negotiating for it, and finally bringing it into its collection.

The word suggests something more deliberate than simply receiving a gift. You might acquire knowledge by reading challenging books, acquire confidence by facing your fears, or acquire a taste for foods you didn't like before. Companies acquire other companies by purchasing them. Collectors acquire rare items by searching patiently and saving money.

Think of acquire as the verb form of acquisition, which means something you've obtained. Your acquisitions at a bookstore are the books you bought. The key idea is that acquiring usually involves intention and process. Most of the time, you pursue things you acquire, work for them, or systematically add them to what you already have.