engage
to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons): He engaged her in conversation.
to secure for aid, employment, use, etc.; hire: to engage a worker;to engage a room.
to attract and hold fast: The novel engaged her attention and interest.
to attract or please: His good nature engages everyone.
to bind, as by pledge, promise, contract, or oath; make liable: He engaged himself to repay his debt within a month.
to betroth (usually used in the passive): They were engaged last week.
to bring (troops) into conflict; enter into conflict with: Our army engaged the enemy.
Mechanics. to cause (gears or the like) to become interlocked; interlock with.
to attach or secure.
Obsolete. to entangle or involve.
to occupy oneself; become involved: to engage in business or politics.
to take employment: She engaged in her mother's business.
to pledge one's word; assume an obligation: I was unwilling to engage on such terms.
to cross weapons; enter into conflict: The armies engaged early in the morning.
Mechanics. (of gears or the like) to interlock.
Origin of engage
1Other words for engage
Opposites for engage
Other words from engage
- en·gag·er, noun
Words Nearby engage
Other definitions for engagé (2 of 2)
choosing to involve oneself in or commit oneself to something: Some of the political activists grew less engagé as the years passed.
Origin of engagé
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use engage in a sentence
Crucially, the team engaged with critics rather than just dismissing them.
Is a successful contact tracing app possible? These countries think so. | Charlotte Jee | August 10, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewKeep your knees bent, your feet flat on the floor, and your core engaged.
Prevent Overuse Climbing Injuries with These Exercises | Hayden Carpenter | August 8, 2020 | Outside OnlinePeople with good paying jobs like supervisors, managers, directors, and vice presidents do not normally engage in theft, drug deals, or gang activity.
I’m a Black Republican, and I agree with AOC on the link between poverty and crime | jakemeth | August 1, 2020 | FortuneSome lawmakers feared that landlords would literally run tenants off of properties at gunpoint or engage other forms of extralegal self-help.
Landlord-Leaning Eviction Courts Are About To Make The Coronavirus Housing Crisis a Lot Worse | LGBTQ-Editor | July 31, 2020 | No Straight NewsFood isn’t the only thing we share, but eating is a particularly good example of a shared activity because it’s necessary, and because we engage in it throughout our lives—unlike playing with blocks, perhaps.
What we’ll lose if the pandemic puts an end to the sharing of food | Michal Lev-Ram, writer | July 19, 2020 | Fortune
Then we all have to do our part to engage the officers and our community, and hold everyone accountable in the process.
The Millennial Action Project (MAP) seeks to engage young people in politics and give them more of a voice in governing.
Not that he ever planned to engage in the controversy directly.
Cook walked more slowly than most, stopping to engage with passersby who expressed their own frustration and support.
‘They Let Him Off?’ Scenes from NYC in Disbelief | Jacob Siegel | December 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSuch messages are unlikely to be beloved of secularists who prefer to scoff at the religious rather than engage with them.
He continued its sale, however, as a kingly monopoly, allowing only those to engage in it who paid him for the privilege.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.We have other things to engage us now, but I sometimes think all is not gain that the march of progress brings.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowI only engage that the engine shall be equal to a B. and Watt's 72-inch single, but it will be equal to a double 72-inch cylinder.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickA ship will sail for the South Sea fishery in about five weeks, and will engage to take the whole of the engines.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickIn the instructions that may be given to Uville, it shall be stipulated on what terms he may engage one or two English workmen.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
British Dictionary definitions for engage (1 of 2)
/ (ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ) /
to secure the services of; employ
to secure for use; reserve: engage a room
to involve (a person or his attention) intensely; engross; occupy
to attract (the affection) of (a person): her innocence engaged him
to draw (somebody) into conversation
(intr) to take part; participate: he engages in many sports
to promise (to do something)
(also intr) military to begin an action with (an enemy)
to bring (a mechanism) into operation: he engaged the clutch
(also intr) to undergo or cause to undergo interlocking, as of the components of a driving mechanism, such as a gear train
machinery to locate (a locking device) in its operative position or to advance (a tool) into a workpiece to commence cutting
Origin of engage
1Derived forms of engage
- engager, noun
British Dictionary definitions for engagé (2 of 2)
/ French (ɑ̃ɡaʒe) /
(of a writer or artist, esp a man) morally or politically committed to some ideology
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
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