employ

[ em-ploi ]

/ ɛmˈplɔɪ /

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See synonyms for: employ / employed / employing / employs on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

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

to make use of (an instrument, means, etc.); use; apply: to employ a hammer to drive a nail.

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

noun

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

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Origin of employ

1425–75; late Middle English employen<Anglo-French, Middle French emploier ≪ Latin implicāre to enfold (Late Latin: to engage); see implicate

OTHER WORDS FROM employ

de-em·ployed, adjectivenon·em·ploy·ing, adjectiveo·ver·em·ploy, verb (used with object)pre·em·ploy, verb (used with object)

re·em·ploy, verb (used with object)well-em·ployed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use employ in a sentence

Models in Israel will have to maintain a BMI of 18.5 or higher if they want to stay employed.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Inevitably, the old visceral “hands-on” flying skills, no longer much employed by pilots, have atrophied like an unused limb.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?|Clive Irving|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So was the importance of protest itself, which he vowed to protect from the heavy-handed policies employed by his predecessors.
Eric Garner Protesters Have a Direct Line to City Hall|Jacob Siegel|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In fact, the estrogen that they employed did worse than castrate the subject—it could act as a cerebral depressant.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero|Clive Irving|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Apparently, the Major Case Squad is employed when homicides are fresh, East St. Louis Det. Gilda Johnson told me.
The Disappearing Cops of East St. Louis|Justin Glawe|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Duchess had also a tent for their sick men; so that we had a small town of our own here, and every body employed.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
But not only has the name tobacco and the implements employed in its use caused much discussion but also the origin of the plant.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
If wealth were always thus employed, it were a pity that great fortunes are not more numerous.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
The commander-in-chief still kept him attached to the headquarter staff, and constantly employed him on special service.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
Not more than one adult worker in ten—so at least it might with confidence be estimated—is employed on necessary things.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock

British Dictionary definitions for employ

employ

/ (ɪmˈplɔɪ) /

verb (tr)

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

to provide work or occupation for; keep busy; occupycollecting stamps employs a lot of his time

to use as a meansto employ secret measures to get one's ends

noun

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

Derived forms of employ

employable, adjectiveemployability, noun

Word Origin for employ

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

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

employ

Origin of employ

OTHER WORDS FROM employ

Words related to employ

How to use employ in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for employ

Derived forms of employ

Word Origin for employ