earn — ODE · Shobdo

earn /əːn

▸ verb

(past and past participle earned)

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

I earned £10 an hour working in the shop

he earns his living as a lorry 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 corn British English
put in a lot of effort to show that one deserves one's wages:

Marvin has worked tirelessly to earn his corn in the squad.

earn one's keep
work in return for food and accommodation:

I was approaching twenty-one and earning my keep.

▪
be worth the time or money spent on one:

his media advisers were earning their keep.

– PHRASAL VERBS

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

four out of five of his books did not earn out their advance

my experience is that most authors don't earn out.

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