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Glite Dictionary
to wrap a gift

to wrap a gift

1 1.0
To cover a gift with pretty paper and ribbon before giving it
  • phrasal verb
: envolver un regalo

Examples

  • He can wrap a gift.

    Baggage Claim (2013)

  • Delacroix wrapped a gift.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • They were much too busy, her aunts said, to go shopping, and they were astonished that Scarlett had not yet selected and wrapped a gift for her grandfather.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Before the party, I decided to wrap a gift for my friend's birthday.

  • It took her a while to wrap a gift neatly with colorful paper and a bow.

  • He learned how to wrap a gift beautifully, impressing everyone at the celebration.

Synonyms

to wrap up
vsto wrap a gift
72 3.6

Cover something completely with paper, cloth or another material to protect it

is used to prepare a package for giving with decorative paper not for protection
to gift-wrap
vsto wrap a gift
17 2.2

Wrap a present in pretty paper and add a ribbon or bow to make it look nice

is the same action but done specifically before giving the package
to do up
vsto wrap a gift
  • UK
4 3.7

Wrap and decorate something like a present to make it look attractive

focuses on covering in decorative paper before giving rather than general decoration

Antonyms

to reveal
∞ 2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

to unwrap
38 1.0

To take off paper or cloth that covers a gift

How Decorative

to decorate
224 1.9
to wrap a gift
1 1.0
to bag
54 1.0

Surface Forms

wrap a gift infinitive
wrapped a gift past
wrapped a gift past participle
wrapping a gift present participle
wraps a gift third person singular

Morphology

wrap + a + gift

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'wrap' (to cover or wind something) plus 'gift' (a present); the article 'a' is semantically empty here. This is a common verb + object construction that follows standard compositional patterns (and is similar across many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Wrap a gift comes from the simple action of taking paper and ribbon to wrap a gift so the present is hidden and looks nice. That's why it means 'to cover a present before giving it'.