earn — ONAD · Shobdo

earn /ərn, ərn

▸ verb

(past and past participle earned)

[with object] obtain (money) in return for labor or services:

they earn $35 per hour

he earns his living as a truck driver.

▪ [with two objects] (of an activity) cause (someone) to obtain (money):

this latest win earned them $50,000 in prize money.

▪ (of capital invested) gain (money) as interest or profit:

the dollars can be placed on deposit and earn interest.

▪ gain deservedly in return for one's behaviour or achievements:

through the years she has earned affection and esteem.

– PHRASES
earn one's keep
work in return for food and accommodations.

▪ be worth the time, money, or effort spent on one:

his media advisers were earning their keep.

– PHRASAL VERBS
earn out
(of an author, book, recording artist, etc.) generate sufficient income through sales to equal the amount paid in an advance or royalty:

my experience is that most authors don't earn out

don't confuse earning out the advance with being profitable.

– ORIGIN Old English earnian, of West Germanic origin, from a base shared by Old English esne ‘laborer’.