Translation alcanzar in the Spanish-English Collins dictionary

alcanzar

a vt

1 (en carrera)

1.1
[+persona] (=llegar a la altura de) to catch up (with)
la alcancé cuando salía por la puerta  I caught up with her o I caught her up just as she was going out of the door
están a punto de alcanzar al grupo de cabeza  they are about to catch (up with) the leading group
dentro de poco alcanzará a su padre en altura  he'll soon be as tall as his father

1.2
[+ladrón, autobús, tren] to catch
no nos alcanzarán nunca they'll never catch us

2 (=llegar a)
[+cima, límite, edad] to reach
por fin alcanzaron la cima  they finally reached the summit
alcanzó las cajas con un palo  she reached the boxes with a stick
puede alcanzar una velocidad de 200km/h  it can reach speeds of up to 200km/h
alcanzó el rango de general  he reached the rank of general
la producción ha alcanzado las 20 toneladas  production has reached 20 tons
el libro ha alcanzado ya las seis ediciones  the book is already in its sixth edition
las montañas alcanzan los 5.000m  the mountains rise to 5,000m
el termómetro llegó a alcanzar los cuarenta grados  temperatures rose as high as forty degrees
→ alcanzar la mayoría de edad  to come of age
→ alcanzó la orilla a nado  he made it to the shore by swimming, he swam back to the shore
→ no llegó a alcanzar la pubertad  he never made it as far as puberty

3 (=conseguir)
[+acuerdo] to reach
[+éxito, objetivo] to achieve
el acuerdo fue alcanzado tras muchos meses de conversaciones  the agreement was reached after many months of talks
las expectativas no se corresponden con los resultados alcanzados  the expectations are out of proportion with the results that have been achieved
→ alcanzar la fama  to find fame, become famous
alcanzar la paz  to achieve peace

4 (=afectar) to affect
el cambio nos alcanzará a todos the change will affect us all
una ley que alcanza sobre todo a los jubilados a law which mainly affects o hits pensioners

5 [bala] to hit
uno de los dos disparos alcanzó al presidente the president was hit by one of the two shots
la lancha fue alcanzada por un obús the launch was hit by a shell

6  (esp LAm) (=dar) to pass
alcánzame la sal, por favor  could you pass (me) the salt, please?
¿me alcanzas las tijeras?  could you pass me the scissors?

7 * (=entender) to grasp, understand
no alcanza más allá de lo que le han enseñado he's only capable of understanding what he's been taught

b vi

1 (=llegar) to reach  (a, hasta  as far as)
no alcanzo  I can't reach
no alcanzaba al timbre  she couldn't reach (as far as) the doorbell
→ hasta donde alcanza la vista  as far as the eye can see

2 → alcanzar a hacer algo  to manage to do sth
no alcancé a verlo  I didn't manage to see him
no alcanzo a ver cómo pudo suceder  I can't see how it can have happened
no alcanzo a comprender sus razones  I just can't understand her reasons

3 (=ser suficiente) to be enough
→ con dos botellas alcanzará para todos  two bottles will be enough for everyone
el sueldo no me alcanza para nada  I can't make ends meet on my salary
¿te alcanza para el tren?   (esp LAm) have you got enough money for the train?

4 (LAm) (=ascender)
¿a cuánto alcanza todo? how much does it all come to?