earn

8 definitions • 21 examples

to receive money as payment for work that you do:

I earn $80,000 a year.

How much do you earn, if you don't mind me asking?

earn a living You can't expect to earn a living (= be paid enough money to live on) from your painting.

earn something from something [ + two objects ] Coffee exports earn (= give) Brazil many millions of dollars a year./Brazil earns many millions of dollars a year from coffee exports.

to get something that you deserve:

It's been a tough six months and I feel I've earned a few weeks off.

to receive money as payment for work that you do, or to get something that you deserve because of your abilities or actions:

[ T ] This month’s raise means that I’ll be earning $45,000 a year.

[ T ] After all the work I’ve done, I’ve earned a vacation.

to receive money as payment for work that you do:

How much do you earn?

When I started earning, I decided to open a savings account.

earn a salary/a wage/an income A typical manager will earn a salary of at least $69,000.

Brokers earn commission on each sale.

earn sb sth She turned down an advert that would have earned her £1 million.

to make a particular amount of money from a product or business activity:

His last three films have earned more than $437 million worldwide.

In 1994, BBA earned pretax profit of 84.3 million pounds.

earn sth from sth The region earns billions of dollars from tourism.

to get an amount of money as profit or interest on an investment or loan:

You can buy and sell these unit trusts when you choose, and you earn dividends.

Any spare cash is best put in a savings account where it will earn interest.

Local governments use the fund as a money-market account to earn interest on surplus cash.

to collect a reward for doing business with a particular company or for a particular activity. You can use these rewards to buy goods or get some other advantage:

Apply now to start earning loyalty points

Organizations can earn carbon credits by registering an energy saving project.

to be paid the money that you need to live on:

He earns a living as a self-employed consultant.