employ
Americanverb (used with object)
-
employs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
employed,
past participle, past
-
employing
present participle
-
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.
-
to make use of (an instrument, means, etc.); use; apply.
We employ objective and scientific methods to analyze all management areas.
-
to keep busy or at work; engage the attentions of.
He employs himself by reading after work.
-
to occupy or devote (time, energies, etc.).
I employ my spare time in reading. I employ all my energies in writing.
noun
-
employs
plural
verb
-
to engage or make use of the services of (a person) in return for money; hire
-
to provide work or occupation for; keep busy; occupy
collecting stamps employs a lot of his time
-
to use as a means
to employ secret measures to get one's ends
noun
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
Derived Forms
-
employabilitynoun
-
overemployverb (used with object)
-
preemployverb (used with object)
-
reemployverb (used with object)
-
employableadjective
-
nonemployingadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
employsimple
-
employssimple
-
have employedperfect
-
has employedperfect
-
am employingprogressive
-
are employingprogressive
-
is employingprogressive
-
have been employingperfect progressive
-
has been employingperfect progressive
Past
-
employedsimple
-
had employedperfect
-
was employingprogressive
-
were employingprogressive
-
had been employingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing employ
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Some would require companies to disclose more about how their systems work and what safeguards they employ.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
The government took particular aim at maneuvers known as “351 conversion transactions,” for the tax-code section they aim to employ.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
There are a few tax-saving strategies you can employ whether you have a high income or are planning early retirement, often as part of year-end tax planning, to soften the impact of the widow’s penalty:
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Assembly Bill 2222 would create refundable tax credits for California local news organizations based on the number of journalists they employ.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
They lean with the prevailing winds and employ every fallacy of logic in order to editorialize harmoniously with popular prejudices.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
The site employs local contractors and businesses and pays royalties to over 3,000 people who own mineral rights, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Abou Raoui said the education sector employs nearly half a million teachers and administrative staff, adding that it was the first time a strike of this kind had attracted such broad support.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Mound, 31, employs around 35 people in his Boston-based company, founded in 2020, and wants to triple his head count in five years.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
The factory employs about 375 full- and part-time workers, including dozens who’ve been there for more than 40 years; head count is up about 100 from last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Straddling the border of France and Switzerland, it employs three thousand people and occupies a site that is measured in square miles.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Excluding traditional satellite television broadcasting, it employed 2,811 people, an increase of 81% over the same period.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The overacting is exhausting because it’s not only Iñárritu’s creative choice, but rather the methods employed by the play-within-a-movie’s director.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
In Reneé Rapp–esque wire-framed glasses, he no longer looked like the youngest billionaire in recent history but rather a precariously employed part-time DJ with a menthol-cigarette problem.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026
The possibly impacted workers are employed across sites like an L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
If he came up with new answers it was because he employed new methods and was evolving a new intellectual tool-kit.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
To keep exporting oil, the kingdom’s flagship oil company Aramco has joined its regional peers in employing shuttle tankers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
The term’s meaning depends on who’s employing it.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
"Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain -- employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities," the statement said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Declan Craggs, the mayor of Diss, Norfolk, said Diss Town Council has tried using ultrasonic sound devices and employing a falconer's hawks to scare the pigeons away from Mere Street, but nothing has worked.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Bribes perhaps, or a rumor that any inn employing a certain red-haired musician would be losing the business of a large number of wealthy noble customers.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
