enlist

[en-list]

See more synonyms for enlist on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to enroll, usually voluntarily, for military service: He decided to enlist in the Marines.
to enter into some cause, enterprise, etc.

verb (used with object)

to engage for military service: to enlist men for the army.
to secure (a person, services, etc.) for some cause, enterprise, etc.: They enlisted us to serve as ushers at the meeting.

Origin of enlist

First recorded in 1690–1700; en-¹ + list¹

Related formsen·list·er, nounpre·en·list, verbun·en·list·ed, adjective

Synonyms for enlist

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

2. volunteer, join.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for enlist

appoint, hire, engage, join, enroll, gather, serve, recruit, employ, admit, enter, mobilize, attract, assign, volunteer, conscript, incorporate, levy, induct, secure

Examples from the Web for enlist

Contemporary Examples of enlist

She claims the FBI tried to enlist her as a cooperating source in their investigation.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro
Bill Conroy
January 6, 2015
Now, of course, we have no choice but enlist anyone we can in the fight against ISIS.
Exposed: The White House’s Professor-in-Chief
Jonathan Alter
October 8, 2014
But with America in the midst of another battle abroad, the president seems anxious to enlist the help of other countries.
Obama Warns UN of Looming Ebola ‘Catastrophe’
Abby Haglage
September 25, 2014
Another tip is to outsource willpower: Enlist family and friends to join you in your goal to give up smoking or get fit.
Willpower: Our Greatest Strength?
September 11, 2014
When it was his turn to speak, Ostronic warned that Kimberlin was trying to “enlist” the jury in a silencing of free speech.
The Weirdest Story About a Conservative Obsession, a Convicted Bomber, and Taylor Swift You Have Ever Read
David Weigel
August 30, 2014

Historical Examples of enlist

Let us run away, for fear he should make us enlist in his company!
Little Daffydowndilly
Nathaniel Hawthorne
One of them, a carter in a smockfrock, seemed wavering and disposed to enlist.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
I'm going to enlist to-morrow, and perhaps I won't get so good a chance as this!
Changing Winds
St. John G. Ervine
Florent was never able to enlist Claude amongst his supporters.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola
He had then tried to enlist as a private, but had been rejected for the same reason.
Chit-Chat; Nirvana; The Searchlight
Mathew Joseph Holt

British Dictionary definitions for enlist

enlist

verb

to enter or persuade to enter into an engagement to serve in the armed forces
(tr) to engage or secure (a person, his services, or his support) for a venture, cause, etc
(intr foll by in) to enter into or join an enterprise, cause, etc

Derived Formsenlister, nounenlistment, noun

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

Word Origin and History for enlist

1590s, from en- (1) "make, put in" + list (n.). Possibly suggested by Dutch inlijsten "to write on a list." Related: Enlisted; enlisting.