enlist
Americanverb (used without object)
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enlists,
present (3rd person singular)
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enlisted,
past participle, past
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enlisting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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enlists,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enlisted,
past participle, past
-
enlisting
present participle
-
to engage for military service.
to enlist men for the army.
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to secure (a person, services, etc.) for some cause, enterprise, etc..
They enlisted us to serve as ushers at the meeting.
verb
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to enter or persuade to enter into an engagement to serve in the armed forces
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(tr) to engage or secure (a person, his services, or his support) for a venture, cause, etc
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to enter into or join an enterprise, cause, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enlistsimple
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enlistssimple
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have enlistedperfect
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has enlistedperfect
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am enlistingprogressive
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are enlistingprogressive
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is enlistingprogressive
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have been enlistingperfect progressive
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has been enlistingperfect progressive
Past
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enlistedsimple
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had enlistedperfect
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was enlistingprogressive
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were enlistingprogressive
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had been enlistingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enlist
Explanation
To enlist is to voluntarily join the military. You may have seen television commercials or posters encouraging people to enlist. There are various ways people end up in the military. Sometimes there's a draft, which selects people whether they want to go or not. Sometimes people enlist, which means they sign up on their own. Enlisting also refers to recruiting or hiring people for some purpose or organization. If you are moving, you might try to enlist your friends to help — good luck with that.
Vocabulary lists containing enlist
Veterans Day Vocabulary
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Memorial Day: Words of Respect and Remembrance
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Code Talker
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To make up for this, Gray’s team tried to enlist several leading academic historians to instill more of an overarching narrative structure.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Egyptians enlist AI “SpongeBob” to vent over living conditions.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
"As is well known, our people enlist voluntarily and sign a contract," he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Sometimes the founders fly in to host, while other times they enlist what they called a small “boots on the ground” team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
He was, perhaps, genuinely attempting to enlist my help.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
This series sequel enlists Hunter Schafer and Michelle Yeoh to play rough in this dystopia, with Schafer as Cora, a human Blade Runner who teams with Yeoh’s Olwen, a fading replicant.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
To help explain how Lincoln emerged to win the Republican nomination and the presidency, Mr. Earle enlists a journalist, Murat Halstead, as an eyewitness guide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Sometimes, when Wallace cannot effectively communicate with coaches or teammates, he enlists the help of his interpreter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
This is important because the government enlists businesses during war and peacetime for assistance, including with immigration enforcement, cyber-security and critical mineral mining.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
He enlists the aid of the sacred ota stone, as well as the shrunken head of a doll, a ball of powdered eggshell, and the eggun, a vertebra from the spine of a goat.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart has enlisted Lady Gaga for a recruitment campaign, convincing the pop icon to trade vocal registers for cash registers in an effort to plug staffing shortages at thousands of outlets.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
To test the idea under controlled conditions, Seiler enlisted retired Berkeley chemists David Kreimer and Elena Kreimer, a retired manager of the College of Chemistry's Microanalytical Facility.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
The songwriting is so assured that one can’t help but wonder what could have happened had Mr. Amos enlisted an imaginative producer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
MS NOW has also enlisted a group of mental health experts who will front programs only available on the MS NOW Membership platform, including former ABC News correspondent and “Nightline” co-anchor Dan Harris.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Evading arrest, he eventually escaped to England, where he enlisted in the Royal Navy to fight against Germany.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Recruiters have also targeted foreigners living in Russia without legal status, promising them residency or a passport in exchange for enlisting, Amnesty said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The exercise -- enlisting 18,000 South Korean troops and counterparts from US forces in the country -- will have a heightened focus on drone warfare, GPS disruption and the role of cyber attacks, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
She then sent an email on Levi’s behalf, enlisting these allies to share the novel with their friends, book clubs, church groups, libraries and local bookstores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Instead of enlisting surrogates to push an uplifting vision for L.A.’s future, Pratt elevates those who speak of the city as a West Coast Chernobyl.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
“You look like you’re enlisting in the army.”
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
