engage
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons).
He engaged her in conversation.
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to secure for aid, employment, use, etc.; hire.
to engage a worker;
to engage a room.
- Antonyms:
- discharge
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to attract and hold fast.
The novel engaged her attention and interest.
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to attract or please.
His good nature engages everyone.
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to bind, as by pledge, promise, contract, or oath; make liable.
He engaged himself to repay his debt within a month.
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to betroth (usually used in the passive).
They were engaged last week.
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to bring (troops) into conflict; enter into conflict with.
Our army engaged the enemy.
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Mechanics. to cause (gears or the like) to become interlocked; interlock with.
- Antonyms:
- release
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to attach or secure.
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Obsolete. to entangle or involve.
verb (used without object)
-
to occupy oneself; become involved.
to engage in business or politics.
-
to take employment.
She engaged in her mother's business.
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to pledge one's word; assume an obligation.
I was unwilling to engage on such terms.
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to cross weapons; enter into conflict.
The armies engaged early in the morning.
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Mechanics. (of gears or the like) to interlock.
adjective
verb
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to secure the services of; employ
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to secure for use; reserve
engage a room
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to involve (a person or his attention) intensely; engross; occupy
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to attract (the affection) of (a person)
her innocence engaged him
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to draw (somebody) into conversation
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(intr) to take part; participate
he engages in many sports
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to promise (to do something)
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(also intr) military to begin an action with (an enemy)
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to bring (a mechanism) into operation
he engaged the clutch
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(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
adjective
Other Word Forms
- engager noun
Etymology
Origin of engage1
First recorded in 1515–25; from Middle French engager, Old French engagier; en- 1 ( def. ), gage 1 ( def. )
Origin of engagé2
First recorded in 1950–55; from French: literally, “engaged”
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.
"We have to engage with this volatile world" is how he summarised his approach when I spoke to him.
From BBC
Ahmad, by contrast, has lived a life free of community and consequence, and for the first time engages in the mechanics of cause and effect.
Rather, as Gerri Kimber explains in “Katherine Mansfield: A Hidden Life,” they would be known as literary sparring partners, both engaged in the high-stakes project of forging a new modernist literature.
He specializes in developing innovative tools that help reporters explore and present data, and in designing engaging interactives to provide unique insights into complex issues.
I’m sitting in the stuffy hotel room, listening, yet part of me is absent while my brain processes and engages with a conversation all my own.
From Literature
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.
