employ

[ em-ploi ]
See synonyms for employ on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to hire or engage the services of (a person or persons); provide employment for; have or keep in one's service: This factory employs thousands of people.

  2. to make use of (an instrument, means, etc.); use; apply: We employ objective and scientific methods to analyze all management areas.

  1. to keep busy or at work; engage the attentions of: He employs himself by reading after work.

  2. to occupy or devote (time, energies, etc.): I employ my spare time in reading. I employ all my energies in writing.

noun
  1. employment; service: to be in someone's employ.

Origin of employ

1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English employen, from Anglo-French, Middle French emploier, ultimately derived from Latin implicāre “to enfold” (Late Latin: “to engage”); see implicate

Other words from employ

  • non·em·ploy·ing, adjective
  • o·ver·em·ploy, verb (used with object)
  • pre·em·ploy, verb (used with object)
  • re·em·ploy, verb (used with object)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use employ in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for employ

employ

/ (ɪmˈplɔɪ) /


verb(tr)
  1. to engage or make use of the services of (a person) in return for money; hire

  2. to provide work or occupation for; keep busy; occupy: collecting stamps employs a lot of his time

  1. to use as a means: to employ secret measures to get one's ends

noun
  1. the state of being employed (esp in the phrase in someone's employ)

Origin of employ

1
C15: from Old French emploier, from Latin implicāre to entangle, engage, from plicāre to fold

Derived forms of employ

  • employable, adjective
  • employability, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012