enslave
Americanverb (used with object)
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enslaves,
present (3rd person singular)
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enslaved,
past participle, past
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enslaving
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
enslavesimple
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enslavessimple
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have enslavedperfect
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has enslavedperfect
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am enslavingprogressive
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are enslavingprogressive
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is enslavingprogressive
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have been enslavingperfect progressive
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has been enslavingperfect progressive
Past
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enslavedsimple
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had enslavedperfect
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was enslavingprogressive
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were enslavingprogressive
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had been enslavingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enslave
Explanation
To enslave someone is to force that person to work for no pay, to obey commands, and to lose his or her freedom. The ancient Greeks were known to enslave groups of people they defeated in military battles. It's less common today for one group of people to enslave another, but unfortunately it does still happen. You might also encounter enslave being used in a figurative way, to describe something that takes over a person's freedom to make choices in some way: "Being hooked on cigarettes just enslaves her — she tries to quit, but she can't." Enslave comes from the "make into" prefix, en-, and slave, "person who is the property of another."
Vocabulary lists containing enslave
Lost Boy, Lost Girl
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Across So Many Seas
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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:
He’s an amoral tycoon who would enslave an entire country to make a buck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
Superfly is constructing a device to turn all animals into mutants and enslave the human race, and the heroes enter into a color explosion epic battle to stop him.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 22, 2023
Moreover, it can be argued that every institution devised by humans has been used to enslave other humans.
From Salon ● May 11, 2023
But last week Hinton quit Google so he could speak freely about his fears that A.I. systems would soon become smarter than us and gain the power to enslave or kill us.
From Slate ● May 9, 2023
We expect great things from men who have made such a noble stand against the designs of their fellow-men to enslave them.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Later, it did duty as a lower level of Nibelheim, where Alberich enslaves his fellow Nibelungs as the first step in his quest for world domination.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
Then he pauses and sinks in his chair and answers himself, "It is a handcuff that enslaves poor workers."
From Salon ● May 12, 2022
Speaking to supporters at the end of his Socialist Party's three-day congress in Valencia, Mr Sanchez said that the practice "enslaves" women.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2021
And he argues, of course, this point with regard to the African-American neighbors he enslaves, but he also applies that to the North.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2020
Moreover, every repetition further breaks down the present resistance and, therefore, in a sense further enslaves the individual to that mode of action.
From Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education by Ontario. Ministry of Education
On that trip, Mason met free Black Americans who told her and other enslaved people to contest their citizenship status once they reached the Golden State.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Among other things, Britain’s invasion brought freedom to thousands of enslaved people, and established Canada as an ultimate stop on the Underground Railroad.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
“Not Built in a Day” is frank about the limits of our ability to know what life was like for the enslaved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Dame Sarah Mullally was speaking on a visit to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana where enslaved Africans were held before being trafficked to the Americas.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
It is meant as a respectful term for the individuality of the enslaved people.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
The financing contributed to England's role in enslaving around three million African men, women and children, of whom an estimated half a million died during forced transportation, King's College London said.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
But it was extremely hypocritical of the U.S. to condemn the Barbary states for enslaving a few hundred Americans given, you know, the extensive enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Africans on American soil.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
France abolished enslaving humans more than 170 years ago, and in 2001 recognised slavery and the slave trade as "crimes against humanity".
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Growing up watching those movies and reading comics and science fiction, the idea of robot overlords enslaving humanity was always close at hand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2024
“You’ll learn, young brotha. You’ll learn. The Europeans succeeded in denigrating and enslaving peoples of African descent, but there’s royal blood flowing through your veins, you hear me?”
From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
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.
