employ

American  

[em-ploi] / ɛmˈplɔɪ /

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.

3. to keep busy or at work; engage the attentions of.

   He employs himself by reading after work.

4. to occupy or devote (time, energies, etc.).

   I employ my spare time in reading. I employ all my energies in writing.

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noun

1. employment; service.

   to be in someone's employ.

employ British  

/ ɪmˈplɔɪ /

verb

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

3. to use as a means

   to employ secret measures to get one's ends

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noun

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

Usage

What does employ mean? To employ someone is to pay them to work. An employer employs employees. The state of being employed is employment. A more specific use of employ is as a noun meaning employment or service. This sense of the word is almost always used in phrases like in their employ. Employ also means to use, as in This task will require you to employ a different skill set. Less commonly, employ can mean to keep one busy or occupy one, as in During flights I usually employ myself with some knitting. Example: My company employs more than 500 people.

Other Word Forms

• employability noun
• employable adjective
• nonemploying adjective
• overemploy verb (used with object)
• preemploy verb (used with object)
• reemploy verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of employ

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

Explanation

To employ means to use something or hire someone to work. You can employ a saw to cut a board or employ a tutor to teach you math. You can even employ your talents in study and activities. The Latin source of employ is the word implicāre, which literally means to enfold or be connected with. This ties in with the verb employ, which is transitive and needs a direct object. (You can't just say "I will employ — you have to employ something.) The word also suggests using something for a specific purpose: you can employ someone for a job or find something in which to employ your own interests.

Example Sentences

S&P Global’s index of service companies, which employ most Americans, recovered to a reading of 51.3 in April from a three-year low of 49.8 in the prior month.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026

Wage growth has also slowed in the blue-collar industries that tend to employ low-skilled migrants, a sign that widely feared labor shortages haven’t materialized, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department figures.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Rinna compared the objectives of “RHOBH” to “The Traitors” and the different strategies she had to employ on the franchises.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

The list of clubs seeking new managers, or pondering the futures of those they currently employ, could make this a non-stop summer of managerial conjecture involving those from the top right down to the bottom.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Given the capacity to control autonomic functions, modulate brain waves, run cells, why shouldn’t it be possible to employ exactly the same technology to go in precisely the opposite direction?

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Related Words

• apply
• engage
• exploit
• handle
• occupy
• operate
• spend
• use
• utilize