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Glite Dictionary
to rake together

to rake together

6.7
Gather money, papers, or people quickly, often with effort
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : reunir
  • After a lot of effort, they managed to rake together enough money to pay the rent.

Examples

  • We had to rake together a team at the last minute for the competition.

  • She tried to rake together all the necessary documents before the deadline.

  • We need to rake together some funds for the project!

  • Can you rake together the supplies for the event?

  • The team had to rake together funds from several sponsors to afford the new equipment.

  • Despite the tight deadline, she managed to rake together enough volunteers for the event.

  • In a rush, he tried to rake together all the necessary documents before the meeting.

Synonyms

to gather
vsto rake together
∞ 1.0

Bring people, things, or information together in one place

adds the idea of doing this from various places and sometimes with haste
to collect
vsto rake together
499 1.1

To bring things or people together in one place

is like this but emphasises sourcing from multiple places and occasional haste
to round up
vsto rake together
169 3.2

To bring people, animals, or things together in one place

covers that action too but also includes gathering items or funds from different sources
to muster
vsto rake together
84 5.4

To gather people, supplies, or courage for a purpose

focuses more on gathering for need and may involve difficulty or haste
to pull together
vsto rake together
50 3.4

Gather people or things and organize them to reach a goal

can be similar but often means collecting resources quickly, sometimes under pressure
to gather up
vsto rake together
43 2.1

Bring things together by picking them up with your hands

is broader, also meaning gathering funds or people from various sources
to scrape together
vsto rake together
12 6.1

Gather small amounts of money or supplies with difficulty

is similar but can also mean gathering from various sources rather than only hardship
to scratch together
vsto rake together
  • Informal
1 6.5

To gather small amounts of money, food, or a few people with difficulty to do something

does this too but often pulls resources from many different places
to scrunge together
vsto rake together
  • Slang
9.1

To get a small amount of something quickly with little money or time

is like this but emphasises collecting from several places and sometimes hurriedly

Antonyms

to disperse
104 4.4

To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area

to dissipate
48 6.8

To make something spread out and disappear, for example fog or tension

How Much

to hoard
45 4.8
to stockpile
26 4.6
to amass
66 4.8
to rake together
  • Informal
6.7
to gather
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

rake together infinitive
raked together past
raked together past participle
raking together present participle
rakes together third person singular

Morphology

rake + together

The meaning is a straightforward metaphorical extension of the verb 'rake' (= to gather with a tool) combined with 'together' (jointly), so a learner who knows both words can readily infer 'to gather/collect (funds or items)'. The composition follows a transparent verb+particle pattern and is cross-linguistically plausible, with only a minor metaphorical shift from physical to abstract objects.

Etymology

Rake together The verb rake together comes from the image of using a rake to pull scattered leaves or bits together into one pile. That picture of bringing pieces from different places into one pile is why it now means 'to gather money, people, or things from many places, often quickly or with effort'.