earn /; AmE / verb

1 [+ obj or no obj]

to get money for work that you do:

She earned about €40 000 last year in pay and bonuses.

You will earn a basic salary of $2 000 a month.

He earns a living from selling second-hand books.

She must earn a fortune (= earn a lot of money)!

I only have to pay back the loan when I start earning.

The book earned him millions in royalties.

to earn a fee/an income/a salary/wage to earn money to earn a bonus/raise/rise

2 [+ obj]

to obtain money from business activities:

In the last quarter the company earned $1.16 billion, or 47 cents a share.

The firm earns most of its money from renting out property.

There are special tax rates on income earned from exports.

How much can we sell the item for and will we earn a profit on it?

to earn an income/a profit/return to earn income/money/profits/revenue(s)

3 [+ obj]

to get money as a profit or interest on money that you invest, lend, etc:

How much interest do you earn on your savings?

The shares earned a 17% return.

Investors expect to earn a reasonable rate of return.

to earn interest to earn a dividend/return

4 [+ obj]

to get a benefit because you buy sth from a particular shop/store, etc. or use a particular credit card:

Shoppers will be able to earn points on all credit-card purchases.

IDIOMS

earn your keep

to be worth the amount of time or money that is being spent:

He felt he no longer deserved such a high salary. He just wasn't earning his keep.

• cough
• council
• counsel
• counselling
• counsellor
• counter
• counteract
• counterbid
• counterclaim
• countercyclical
• counterfeit
• counterfoil
• counter-inflationary
• counter-offer
• counterpart
• counterparty
• counterproductive
• counterpurchase
• countersign
• countertrade
• countervailing duty
• country risk
• coupon
• courier
• course