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Engage

//ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To interact socially.; To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. transitive

    "Thus ſhall mankind his guardian care engage, / The promis'd father of the future age."

  2. 2
    get caught wordnet
  3. 3
    To interact socially.; To draw into conversation. ambitransitive

    "the difficult task of engaging him in conversation"

  4. 4
    consume all of one's attention or time wordnet
  5. 5
    To interact socially.; To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).

    "This humanity and good nature engages every body to him, so that when he is pleasant upon any of them all his family are in a good humour, and none so much as the person whom he diverts himself with: […]"

Show 17 more definitions
  1. 6
    give to in marriage wordnet
  2. 7
    To interact antagonistically.; To enter into conflict with (an enemy). transitive

    "1698-1699, Edmund Ludlow, Memoirs a favourable opportunity of engaging the enemy"

  3. 8
    keep engaged wordnet
  4. 9
    To interact antagonistically.; To enter into battle. intransitive
  5. 10
    engage for service under a term of contract wordnet
  6. 11
    To interact contractually.; To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.). transitive

    "For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks."

  7. 12
    hire for work or assistance wordnet
  8. 13
    To interact contractually.; To guarantee or promise (to do something). intransitive
  9. 14
    carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in wordnet
  10. 15
    To interact contractually.; To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive). transitive

    "They were engaged last month! They're planning to have the wedding next year."

  11. 16
    carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns) wordnet
  12. 17
    To interact contractually.; To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land). obsolete, transitive

    "Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage."

  13. 18
    ask to represent; of legal counsel wordnet
  14. 19
    To interact mechanically.; To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).

    "Whenever I engage the clutch, the car stalls out."

  15. 20
    engage or hire for work wordnet
  16. 21
    To interact mechanically.; To come into gear with. transitive

    "The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another."

  17. 22
    To entangle. obsolete, transitive

Etymology

From Middle English engagen, from Old French engagier (“to pledge, engage”), from Frankish *anwadjōn (“to pledge”), from Proto-Germanic *an-, *andi- + Proto-Germanic *wadjōną (“to pledge, secure”), from Proto-Germanic *wadją (“pledge, guarantee”), from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“to pledge, redeem a pledge; guarantee, bail”), equivalent to en- + gage. Cognate with Old English anwedd (“pledge, security”), Old English weddian (“to engage, covenant, undertake”), German wetten (“to bet, wager”), Icelandic veðja (“to wager”). More at wed.

See also for "engage"

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