Col·lect v. t. [imp. & p. p. Collected; p. pr. & vb. n. Collecting.]
1. To gather into one body or place; to assemble or bring together; to obtain by gathering.
A band of men
Collected choicely from each country. --Shak.
'Tis memory alone that enriches the mind, by preserving what our labor and industry daily collect. --Watts.
2. To demand and obtain payment of, as an account, or other indebtedness; as, to collect taxes.
3. To infer from observed facts; to conclude from premises. [Archaic.]
Which sequence, I conceive, is very ill collected. --Locke.
To collect one's self, to recover from surprise, embarrassment, or fear; to regain self-control.
Syn: -- To gather; assemble; congregate; muster; accumulate; garner; aggregate; amass; infer; deduce.
collecting
n : the act of gathering something together [syn: collection,
assembling, aggregation]