Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for engaged on Thesaurus.com busy or occupied; involved: deeply engaged in conversation. pledged to be married; betrothed: an engaged couple. under engagement; pledged: an engaged contractor. entered into conflict with: desperately engaged armies. Mechanics interlocked .(of wheels) in gear with each other. Architecture (of a distinct member) built so as to be truly or seemingly attached in part to the structure before which it stands: an engaged column. Show More
Origin of engaged First recorded in
1605–15; engage +
-ed2 Related forms en·gag·ed·ly [en-gey -jid-lee, -geyjd -] /ɛnˈgeɪ dʒɪd li, -ˈgeɪdʒd-/ adverb en·gag·ed·ness , noun un·en·gaged , adjective verb (used with object), en·gaged, en·gag·ing. 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. Show More
verb (used without object), en·gaged, en·gag·ing. 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. Show More
Origin of engage 1515–25; <
Middle French engager, Old French engagier. See
en-1 ,
gage1 Related forms en·gag·er , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for engaged hooked ,
committed ,
preoccupied ,
working ,
involved ,
engrossed ,
interested ,
absorbed ,
employed ,
occupied ,
affianced ,
intended ,
betrothed ,
steady ,
bound ,
plighted ,
contracted ,
pinned ,
ringed ,
doing Examples from the Web for engaged Contemporary Examples of engaged Jennie met Randolph Churchill in 1873 at a ball; three days later they were engaged .
“After we got engaged , she only made things harder,” explains Sabrine.
She was engaged a year later to a man 11 years her senior, chosen by her father.
The brash, engaged , occasionally self-centered ex-lawmaker seemed to retreat inward and practically disappear.
And what do I call him now that we are living together, but are not engaged or married?
Historical Examples of engaged Plainly, too, he was a man of action and a man who engaged all her instinctive liking.
Then after she was engaged to Shepler they talked him out of it.
My granddaughter, you may have heard, is engaged to an Englishman.
While engaged with her father, she would cut wood, haul logs, etc.
On the 23rd we were engaged making preparations for a start for Eucla.
British Dictionary definitions for engaged pledged to be married; betrothed employed, occupied, or busy architect built against or attached to a wall or similar structure an engaged column (of a telephone line) already in use Show More
Derived Forms engagedly (ɪnˈɡeɪdʒɪdlɪ ), adverb 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 Show More
Derived Forms engager , noun Word Origin for engage C15: from Old French engagier, from en- 1 + gage a pledge, see gage 1
(of a writer or artist, esp a man) morally or politically committed to some ideology Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for engaged v. early 15c., "to pledge," from Middle French engagier , from Old French en gage "under pledge," from en "make" + gage "pledge," through Frankish from Proto-Germanic *wadiare "pledge" (see wed ).
It shows the common evolution of Germanic -w- to French -g- ; cf. Guillaume from Wilhelm ). Meaning "attract the attention of" is from 1640s; that of "employ" is from 1640s, from notion of "binding as by a pledge." Specific sense of "promise to marry" is 1610s (implied in engaged ).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
