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acquire
/əˈkwaɪər/ verb [T]Definition
› to buy or take control of a company or part of a company, often by buying shares in it: They acquired a chain of about 20 phone shops.acquire control/ownership of sth He had just acquired control of the New York Times.be acquired by sb/sth Mutual of New York was later acquired by French insurance conglomerate AXA. Many checkout staff acquired shares in the company.
› MARKETING to get the legal right to use or do something: acquire rights to sth The broadcaster did not disclose exactly how it acquired rights to the material.
› to get something that is important to your business: We've acquired a million new customers in a year. It's a good time to acquire new talent.
› WORKPLACE to get something that is important to you in your job: Aptitude tests attempt to judge a person's ability to acquire new skills.
(Definition of acquire verb from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
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